


When the Day Met the Night

by rurambles



Series: Prompt Fics [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Banter, Boys In Love, Cuddling & Snuggling, Drinking, Established Relationship, Fluff, Innuendo, Kissing, M/M, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 47
Words: 30,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28480959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rurambles/pseuds/rurambles
Summary: A collection of TsukiHina prompt fics
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei, Tsukishima Kei & Yamaguchi Tadashi
Series: Prompt Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129679
Comments: 215
Kudos: 375





	1. "What if I say no?"

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I have compiled a large list of prompts that I intend to use basically as writing warm ups for larger fics and instead of posting them all separately I'm going to post them as chapters here. There most likely won't be any continuity between chapters but at this point I imagine the majority of them will be aged up/established relationship fic 
> 
> Tags will be updated as necessary. 
> 
> Title is from a Panic at the Disco song where the first verse is "When the moon fell in love with the sun / All was golden in the sky" and I thought it was good for a collection like this.

Shoyou found himself under a Kei-shaped blanket. It wasn’t an unusual situation but it was one that was going to make him late to the gym. In hindsight, he shouldn’t have gone back to the bedroom to see if Kei wanted breakfast before he left because he should have known that this was a possibility. 

He poked his lazy boyfriend in the side but Kei barely moved. “Kei,” he whined, “Get off. I’m going to be late.”

Kei made a dismissive noise, “Sounds like a you problem.”

Shoyou made a face at him but Kei couldn’t see it from his current position, his forehead tucked nicely into his boyfriend’s neck. If he really wanted to he could simply flip them over and make his escape, Kei wasn’t actually that heavy and never could actually prevent him from leaving; but then Kei would get grumpy with him and in the grand scheme of things he would rather face his coach’s wrath than his boyfriend’s petulance.

He was pretty sure he was using the word right but it was too dangerous to ask. 

He pushed at Kei’s cheek, dislodging him from his neck and relocating him to his shoulder, “You have to let me up.”

Kei hummed like he was considering his options, “What if I say no?” 

Shoyou let out a loud, frustrated noise and starfished on the bed so it didn’t seem like he was cuddling back, “Then I’m going to be as uncomfortable as possible.” 

“Impossible,” Kei snorted at his boyfriend’s theatrics, “You’re pillow sized and your muscles are freakishly comfortable.” 

He turned a bit pink at the weird compliment, “Then I’m not going to stop talking--”

“That’s nothing new.”

“--about every embarrassing thing I know about you.” 

Kei picked his head up to glare at him but Shoyou grinned back like he had already won. But that was silly, he should have known that winning was never that easy when it came to his too-smart boyfriend.

Shoyou took a deep breath, “Do you remember the time when”

But Kei covered his mouth to cut him off and pouted, actually pouted at him. If Shoyou was standing up he probably would have felt himself go weak in the knees at the sight. “Are you trying to leave me?” he asked quietly.

Shoyou’s eyes widened a bit but quickly narrowed again. He obviously knew that he was being played… but then again, when it came to Kei, he drew a fine line between being actually needy and being playfully mean. So what if now was one of those times where he was needy but couldn’t use his words because of who he was as a person. 

He groaned inwardly, Kei was so complicated.

“I. You. Argh!” He covered his face with his hands to try and compose himself, “You’re confusing me!” 

“You’re easily confused,” he could hear the smile in Kei’s voice even if he couldn’t see it, “So what is it, Shoyou? Are you in a big rush to leave me?” 

This time he heard his teasing tone and nodded eagerly, “Yes, because you’re the absolute worst.” 

Kei rolled off of him like he said the magic words, “True.” 

Shoyou scrambled up and got out of the bed before Kei could change his mind and drag him back down. His clothes were a little rumpled and he’d probably get a bit of flak for it by teammates who wouldn’t believe that Kei really only trapped him in bed to cuddle, but he didn’t have time to straighten himself up so he would have to deal with it. 

He ran out the door to get his gym bag and shoes, but before he left he peeked his head back in the bedroom and called out, “I lied, you’re not the worst, love you, bye!” 

Kei waved dismissively at him, “Yeah, yeah.”


	2. "Get Out"

Cold air hit his skin like a jolt of electricity and he was cruelly pulled from sleep into consciousness. Kei squinted his eyes opened and blearily saw Shoyou standing at the foot of their bed holding the blanket that moments before was cocooning him with warmth. This was it, this was going to be the day he gave into his urges and killed his idiotic boyfriend. 

Shoyou looked way too proud of himself for someone who was in imminent danger, “Go for a run with me!” 

Or maybe he knew he wasn’t in that much danger considering Kei was functionally useless in the morning, “Get. Out.” he turned to look at the window because even if he looked at the clock he wouldn’t be able to read it, “The sun isn’t even up yet Shoyou!” 

“I’m up!” he said way too cheerfully for the hour. 

Kei buried his face in his pillow, “I’ve never called you the sun.”

Shoyou tossed the blanket on Kei’s feet and he tried to get some of the warmth back from it, “Not true.”

“You have no proof.” He could feel himself waking up the more they talked and he was sure that this was Shoyou’s plan, but Kei was never good at letting his boyfriend have the last word in conversations. 

He let out a quiet laugh like he was recalling a fond memory, “Once you said people orbit me like I’m the sun and I said planets orbit the earth and then you used words like something centric--”

“Heliocentric and geocentric”

“--and you made me study. Also” Shoyou paused and Kei could hear him grinning even though he wasn’t looking at him, “you have a sun tattoo.”

Kei groaned loudly because he was right and he did but that still didn’t give him the right to barge in on him and demand that he get out of bed and exert himself more than necessary, “Get out. I need to go to work later and I want to sleep.”

Shoyou draped himself over Kei’s back, “Please? I’m away next week and want to spend time with you.”

“Fine,” he sat up and knocked Shoyou off the bed. He deserved it. 

Kei crossed the room and took off his sleep shirt to change into workout clothes, in doing so he revealed the small sun tattoo nestled between his shoulder blades. Shoyou whistled appreciatively at him but Kei glared at him over his shoulder, silently telling him to shut up.

“Fine,” he said again, “I’m ready.”

Shoyou looked horrified, “No you’re not! You need to eat something, you need to stretch! Kei, you’re an athlete!” He stressed the word athlete like Kei should already know what he should be doing before going for a jog. 

Kei thought that after so many years Shoyou should know that he hates running. He also thought that if looks could kill he would have been single years ago. 

“Do you want me to run or not?”

Somehow Shoyou conned him into some light stretching and got him to drink some water to chase away his overnight dehydration, but eventually Kei told him that if they don’t leave right now then he’s not going. 

During the first few minutes of their jog Kei made sure to remind Shoyou just how much he hated running and how lucky he was that he managed to get him to come along-- but also if he ever, and he meant ever, pulled a blanket away from him while he was sleeping again then Shoyou would never be able to play volleyball again. And yes, that was a threat. 

After Shoyou was thoroughly threatened-- and questioned Kei on just what he would do to end his career, to which Kei simply grinned at him, and that was one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen-- the jog wasn’t so bad. 

As they got further into the city it was like the city was waking up around them. They passed other joggers or bikers, shops were opening up around them, people were commuting to work. It was almost nice. 

“Aren’t you glad you came out with me this morning?”

“No.”


	3. "I Dreamed Of You Last Night"

Kei slid into the booth across from Tadashi and gratefully accepted the glass that was already waiting for him. 

Tadashi looked at him for all of a second before commenting, “You’re grumpier than usual today”

“No I’m not,” Kei said immediately, because he wasn’t. Everything was fine. 

Tadashi nodded knowingly, “Shoyou is away then?”

Kei took a large sip of his drink so he wouldn’t have to answer right away, “Why do you think that?”

“Ah, so he is,” Tadashi smirked at him like the jerk he was. 

“Shut up, Tadashi,” he said reflexively. 

His friend’s smirk turned into a real smile, “Sorry, Tsukki,” He wasn’t sorry, he never was. “You know. I always felt bad for the poor girl who would have to put up with you.”

Kei put down his glass and stared across the table, “Rude.” And really, that comment was rude. Sure, Tadashi knew as well as anyone that he could be difficult to deal with but he didn’t have to come out and say it to his face when Kei finally found the time to meet up with him. 

“And then,” Tadashi continued like he hadn’t just offended his best friend, “you came out to me and I went, ah boy then.”

He swirled around what was left of his drink. It looked like he was going to get lectured, “Is this going somewhere or are you just assassinating my character?”

Tadashi chuckled silently, “But then you fell in love with Shoyou.”

“Uh huh,” Kei said, bored of this conversation already, still fidgeting with the glass.

“And I’m still surprised at how much you love him.”

Kei put the glass down with a loud clunk and looked truly offended by his friend’s words, “I think,” he started carefully, “that’s the cruelest thing you’ve ever said to me. Do you think I don’t feel love?”

Tadashi waved his hands frantically between them, trying to diffuse the situation, “Don’t take it the wrong way, I’m just surprised you let yourself feel it!” 

“I’m not sixteen anymore, Tadashi,” he was still upset by his friend’s words. 

He sighed, “I’m trying to say that I’m proud of you.”

Kei’s face contorted from offended to disgusted to resigned before he sighed as well, “You,” he paused, “Are the worst person I know.”

“Love you too,” Tadashi laughed, “Call your boyfriend, you’re still grumpy.”

On his walk home he called Shoyou not because Tadashi told him to but because he wanted to. The phone only rang twice before Shoyou picked up. It was already late so he should have already been done with practice.

“Kei!” Shoyou yelled into the phone, “Did you miss me?”

“No,” he said, but he was sure that his boyfriend could hear the smile in his voice.

Shoyou laughed and Kei was hit with how much he actually missed him even though he had only been gone for a week, “I dreamed of you last night.”

Kei quirked an eyebrow even though he wasn’t around to see it, “Oh?”

“Not like that!” He yelled again before lowering his voice, “I don’t usually dream about you.”

“Do you usually dream about other men then?” Kei tried to ask lightly but jealousy seeped into every word. 

Shoyou snorted, he knew exactly how his boyfriend was, “No, I usually dream about volleyball.”

Kei smiled into the phone, “You would, you volleyball freak.”

“Hey!” Shoyou laughed, “Once I asked Kenma what he dreamed about and he said he usually dreams about video games. What do you dream about? Dinosaurs? Whatever you do at the museum all day?”

He shrugged before he remembered that Shoyou couldn’t actually see him, “I don’t remember what I dreamed about after I wake up. What was your dream about?”

“We were at the beach and it was sort of Japan and sort of Rio and I had to beg you to come into the ocean with me and you said that you didn’t like being blind in the water so I made you wear your sports glasses and then whenever you were going to be hit by a wave you grew like two meters!” 

Kei laughed quietly into the phone and they fell into a comfortable silence. It wasn’t until he arrived home and was putting his key into the lock did he ask, “Are you coming home soon?”

Shoyou sighed, “You know it’s a few more days, I saw your calendar.” Kei simply hummed dismissively, “Have you eaten dinner?”

He groaned as he slipped off his shoes, “I just told Tadashi, I’m not sixteen anymore. I eat food. I take care of myself. Yes I ate dinner.” 

He could practically hear Shoyou smiling on the other end of the phone, “I’m glad you saw him.”

“He said I’m cold hearted.”

“He probably didn’t.”

“He’s surprised I love you.”

Shoyou laughed again and now that Kei was home by himself he missed him even more, “Me too.”

“Shut up,” he said without any heat.

“I love you, I’ll be home soon.”

“I love you too. Dream about me again.”


	4. “I don’t know if you noticed… but we’re at a party”

The worst part about Shoyou being on the MSBY Jackals were the quarterly sponsorship parties. Kei hated going to them but whenever Shoyou had a plus one he always managed to con Kei into going with him.

He was a master at getting Kei to do what he wanted, but he didn’t deploy his tactics very often, so Kei was always unaware when he was caught in his boyfriend’s trap. Alternatively, Kei was extremely easy to manipulate, because all it took was Shoyou getting him into bed, kissing him slowly until he was soft and pliant, and asking him if he was busy on the fourth (even though he already knew because Kei was meticulous about updating their joint calendar), and somehow he was agreeing to go to yet another party that he didn’t want to go to.

The parties ranged from casual, requiring clean slacks and a button down shirt-- less dressed up than what he’d wear to work, to formal, requiring a suit and tie, depending on who the team was trying to woo to get sponsorship money.

Kei didn’t understand why Shoyou didn’t simply text Kenma. If he asked, Kenma would surely set the Jackals up for years to come without thinking twice. But Kei’s pretty sure that Shoyou enjoyed torturing him and this was just his latest way to do so.

Last week when Shoyou climbed on top of him and kissed him softly and ran his fingers through his hair until Kei wouldn’t think anything about the question “Are you busy next Saturday?”, he should have made up an excuse. But instead he told his too sneaky boyfriend (and really, that was probably his fault) that he was free all day because he thought it was going to go somewhere. So he was rather put off when Shoyou grinned at him and told him about the party and to dress nicely.

He should have told Shoyou that he always dressed nicely. He should have declined the invitation. He should have pushed him out of the bed.

He shouldn’t have gone to any of those stupid parties ever.

The party was at a banquet hall in a mid-scale hotel and the dress code was about on par with what he usually wore to work. He unexpectedly had to go to work that morning, Shoyou looked at him suspiciously when he received the call but Kei’s stressed expression quelled the thought that Kei had somehow planned that so he wouldn’t have to attend the party. In the end it meant that they couldn’t arrive together.

Kei showed up a few hours after the official start time but the party was still in full swing. A room full of professional athletes who were close friends plus league sanctioned drinking, even if they couldn’t get into too much shenanigans and were supposed to be on their best behaviors, meant that parties tended to go on for quite a while.

He took a deep breath to steel himself before taking the first step inside.

Shoyou wasn’t immediately visible or audible which was suspicious but someone handed him a drink while he scanned the room and he took it without looking.

“Why do we keep coming to these?”

Kei stopped his search to see Akaashi Keiji. They were very much in the same position, the quieter, behind the scenes partners of their own volleyball idiots. They had bonded over it a while ago. (Once Shoyou told Bokuto that they both had their own Kei’s and Akaashi made a face that Kei was sure he had made plenty of times in the past before he politely asked to not be called that. Kei couldn’t decide if he was offended.)

“How’d you end up here?” Kei gratefully took a large gulp of the offered drink. It was only champagne so it wouldn’t get him drunk.

Akaashi sighed, “He asked.”

Kei nodded in solidarity, they were both unbelievably weak. How did it even come to this.

Akaashi tsked and said “Don’t look behind you,” but Kei wasn’t a good listener and immediately followed his gaze to the scene unfolding behind him. He wished he hadn’t. Or he wished he had seen it sooner.

Across the room Shoyou was leaning against a pillar and for some reason Miya Atsumu had lifted Shoyou’s shirt and was touching his bare stomach. Miya seemed to be saying something to a potential sponsor but Kei didn’t like how he was touching his boyfriend.

He had never liked Miya. They barely interacted back in their first Nationals but even back then, way before they had started dating, it had rubbed him the wrong way how easily he had called Shoyou by his first name without knowing him. Then every interaction since then his personality had worsened his opinion of him. Shoyou seemed to like his setting and him so Kei put up with hearing about him and occasionally spending time with him, but he did not have to put up with Miya touching him like that.

Kei lowered his eyes and downed the rest of his champagne before handing the glass back to Akaashi, “Excuse me.”

He made his way pursefully across the room and saw Shoyou’s eyes light up when he saw him, but Kei didn’t return the gesture. Instead he made his way into the small circle of people, ignoring how rude he was being, and clamped his hand around Miya’s wrist. He gave Miya his fakest smile and said “Excuse me,” again in a sweet voice.

“Kei!” Shoyou said happily.

He dropped Miya’s wrist and stepped closer to Shoyou to cup his cheek and block him from the rest of the group, “Sho-chan,” he said lowly in his ear, only loud enough for Shoyou and Miya to hear. He felt Shoyou’s sharp intake of breath and when he stepped back he watched his boyfriend lick his lips.

“We’ll be right back,” Shoyou said quickly, grabbing Kei’s hand and pulling him away.

When they were a few steps away Kei led them to the exit of the room then down a few random hallways. They couldn’t leave the hotel completely but they could have a moment of privacy.

He pushed Shoyou against a wall, slipped one of his legs between his, and cupped his cheek again to tilt his head upwards.

“Mine,” he felt Shoyou shiver against him so he pressed in closer to whisper in his ear, “mine.”

Shoyou scrambled to put his hands on Kei’s hips, “Jealous?” he gasped out.

Kei pushed his shirt up and put his hand where Miya’s was just moments ago before leaning down and kissing him slowly. The same kind of kiss Shoyou used to get him to come to the stupid party in the first place. The same kind of kiss that made him pliant also made Shoyou putty in his hands. It was easy to coax his mouth open and--

“Ahem,” Akaashi cleared his throat, ‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re at a party. You can do that in your bedroom later.”

Kei pulled back from his boyfriend to glare at Akaashi but the other man just shrugged.

“If I have to suffer through this, so do you.”


	5. "You can dance with me… if you want"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy for the last chapter I meant to add the detail that Shoyou and Atsumu were talking to someone about workout plans, Atsumu wasn't just being a creep, lol
> 
> for THIS chapter, warning for drinking/talk of drinking, but there isn't too much drinking

Shoyou always seemed upset that he missed out on what he called ‘the college experience’ to go chase after volleyball and Kei always scoffed at him while he downed his fifth coffee of the night and tried to finish his paper before the deadline because he was currently living said college experience and it was terrible. What Shoyou really meant when he started talking about the experiences that he was missing out on, was that he thought that Kei didn’t socialize enough. And Kei would motion to his desk covered with mugs and papers and try to ask where he would find the time to socialize with literally anyone other than his annoying roommate of a boyfriend and his textbooks. 

Which is obviously how Kei found himself at a college party for the first time ever. 

The people hosting the party had expected him to pay real money at the door to get in and he tried to turn around and leave but Shoyou grabbed his arm with surprising strength and paid for both of them. It was a waste of money that could have bought them literally anything else. And if Shoyou really wanted to watch him get drunk, he could have asked. 

Kei made his way over to the table holding most of the alcohol, because if he was expected to be there for any extended period of time he wasn’t going to get through it completely sober, and looked over the options. The most promising option was the punch bowl which was simply an amalgamation of whatever everyone else brought. It probably wouldn’t taste good but it would get the job done. 

He filled his cup with the awful liquid and found a place to stand by a wall. 

He had lost Shoyou almost as soon as they had entered and for once it was his fault since he was so intent on making a beeline to the alcohol he didn’t stop to make sure Shoyou was still with him. 

Kei took his first sip as he scanned the room and almost spit it back out. He had to remind himself that he wasn’t there to enjoy the drink. He spotted Shoyou in the corner of the room talking to someone in the corner of the room setting up sound equipment.

In a moment Shoyou was by his side, “Are you going to dance with me.”

“No,” he answered automatically.

Shoyou looked at him in the analytical way he did sometimes, “I’m going to dance though, okay?”

Kei shrugged and hid his face behind the cup, “That’s fine.” He knew why Shoyou was asking. Shoyou was quietly asking him to not get too jealous. Kei cleared his throat and got his boyfriend’s attention again, “That’s fine,” he said again, firmer this time. 

“Okay!” he smiled, “I’ll see you later. Try and have fun.”

“I won’t,” he said, just to be negative.

When the music finally came on Shoyou was the first person to start dancing and his enthusiasm spurned others to join him. He wasn’t the best dancer but if you watched him you could tell that he was enjoying himself.

Men and women crowded around him and not for the first time Kei was grateful for Shoyou’s beacon-like hair color. Many of the women were wearing heels so a good portion of the people dancing around him were his height or taller, but his bright hair made him easy to spot. Shoyou didn’t seem to mind though, he was too busy enjoying himself. 

Kei sipped his drink slowly as he watched Shoyou dance and he was struck with how considerate his partner was. Shoyou didn’t dance by himself, he always had a partner, but he kept a respectable distance between them even if they were touching (hand on shoulder, hand on hip), and if someone crossed a line he gracefully switched partners. Kei watched someone run their fingers through Shoyou’s hair and he so expertly took a step back and picked back up with someone else it wasn’t until the song ended that Kei realized it didn’t stir any amount of jealousy in him. 

He finished the rest of his drink. He was going to take Shoyou home with him.

As if he felt the heaviness of Kei’s gaze, Shoyou turned to look at him and flashed him a smile. Kei raised his cup back.

Shoyou extricated himself from the dancefloor but didn’t make his way towards Kei, instead he stopped by the drinks table, grabbed a beer, and chatted with someone at the table while he drank the whole thing. Occasionally he glanced over his shoulder to make sure Kei was still watching him. 

When Shoyou finished his drink he traded his empty bottle for a full one and brought it to Kei.

“You’ve been watching me,” he said, handing Kei the beer bottle and taking the empty cup from his hands.

“You’re cute.” Kei immediately made a face. His brain to mouth filter had slowed due to the alcohol. His only recourse was to take a swig of the beer Shoyou just handed him because it would stop him from talking more. 

The beer was terrible.

“You know,” Shoyou grabbed a handful of his shirt and pressed himself against Kei’s front, “You can dance with me… if you want.”

Kei’s brain was going a bit haywire because all he could think about was how careful Shoyou was being about not touching anyone else too much and now he was shamelessly pressed against him like it was no big deal. 

Kei leaned down and captured his mouth in a forceful kiss, “I want,” he said roughly, “to go home.” 

Shoyou smiled at him like he was getting just what he wanted but Kei wasn’t in the right mind to worry about how it always seemed like that was the case.


	6. "Don't Look"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small and early update today because I'm trying to finish the first part of my childhood friends AU (Halcyon Days) either today or tomorrow! Look for that soon as well!

Shoyou had been acting weird ever since Kei had gotten home.

Kei tried to drag him down to the couch so he could collapse on top of him and complain about his day but Shoyou expertly dodged him and said that he didn’t have time right now, which was suspicious because Shoyou never turned down affection if Kei was offering. 

And then, despite the fact he had been home most of the day, Shoyou told him that he hadn’t made dinner yet and it would be up to Kei to make something for them because he had something to do in the bedroom and to please not bother him for a little bit, okay thanks bye. Kei watched him bolt down the hallway and close their bedroom door behind him and he couldn’t help but wonder what just happened. 

But he was hungry so he went into the kitchen and pulled ingredients from the refrigerator to whip up something simple and to bide his time. When their meal was simmering on the stove and a decent amount of time had passed Kei snuck down the hallway and hovered by the door to see if he could hear what was happening inside.

He couldn’t.

So doing what any good boyfriend would do, he threw the door open to see if he could catch his partner doing anything embarrassing. 

“Hello Shoyou,” he said as the door flung open, “dinner will be ready soon.”

Shoyou shrieked at the top of his lungs and threw himself over a small pile of boxes, “Don’t look!” 

Kei tilted his head to try and see around the body-barrier he created, “What is it?”

“I said don’t look!” 

He tapped his chin a few times trying to figure out what Shoyou would be hiding from him when it finally came to him, “Oh…” he said slowly, “it’s my birthday tomorrow.”

Shoyou groaned, Kei was notorious for forgetting his birthday so he was easy to surprise, but this year he messed up, “So you can’t look at it until tomorrow!” he begged. 

Kei took a step forward to attempt to get a better look, “What’s the difference? It’s only a few hours.”

“You’re no fun, Kei,” he groaned again. He just wanted to surprise his stupid boyfriend for his stupid birthday but no.

“And you’re not very smart,” Kei snickered, “You had hours to wrap or hide these but you waited until I got home?” He tapped the top of Shoyou’s head, “Not. Very. Smart.” 

Shoyou looked over his shoulder so he could stick out his tongue, “If you’re going to be mean I’m not going to give you a present.”

Kei shrugged, “Okay.” If he knew his boyfriend, and he did, that would bother Shoyou more than it would bother him. 

“Hey!” Shoyou complained, “I worked hard to pick this out.”

Kei laughed, one of those true laughs that made Shoyou’s heart thump hard in his chest, “Then don’t threaten to not give it to me.” 

Even as his body betrayed him, Shoyou couldn’t let Kei win. “Argh, you’re the worst.”

“But,” Kei smirked at him, “do I still make your heart go gwah?” 

“...Yes.” 

Kei was good at winning.


	7. "I think people hug at this point"

When they were laying down, Kei didn’t have to worry about their height difference. He didn’t have to worry about straining his neck or his back or Shoyou standing on his toes and losing his balance. When they were laying down they could align their mouths and kiss without worry.

Kei liked days where they had nowhere to be and no one was expecting them so they could simply lay in bed and look at each other until one of them inevitably reached out to wrap their hand around the neck of the other to close the remaining distance between their lips. Those kisses were always soft and slow, perfect for lazy days.

It was one of those days when Kei reached out to run his fingers through Shoyou’s hair before his hand settled on his neck and pulled him in. Shoyou’s lips were always chapped no matter how many times Kei reminded him to use lip balm; but Kei relished in the texture of his lips, he loved how they pressed against his own and how Shoyou sighed into kisses. 

It was one of those days when Kei realized he fully and truly loved Shoyou. 

The realization took him by surprise, which was absurd because Shoyou had been telling him that he loved him for a while now even though Kei had never returned the sentiment out loud. Shoyou had teased that he knew Kei loved him by how he acted but Kei refused to confirm his suspicions. 

But right now, laying in bed on a lazy afternoon, he was struck by how much he really did love him. 

Kei pulled back from one of their kisses and Shoyou complained with a small, “hey,” but he didn’t go chasing after Kei’s mouth like he would have if they were starting something more.

Kei looked at him, he could tell from how Shoyou was blinking that he was going to fall asleep soon, but he couldn’t keep it to himself any longer even though he had only made the realization seconds before, “I love you,” he whispered. 

Shoyou smiled sleepily at him, “Yeah.” 

“No,” Kei shoved him lightly, “I love you,” he tried to stress.

“Yeah,” he said again, “I know. I love you too.”

Kei watched Shoyou slowly lose his battle with sleep and eventually he let out a huff, “I thought you’d make a bigger deal out of it.”

Shoyou hummed slightly and Kei was surprised that he was still awake, “I think people hug at this point. Is that what you want?”

He reached out and ran his fingers through Shoyou’s hair, “Go to sleep you big idiot.”

Shoyou smiled into his pillow, “You love this big idiot,” he tried to say but his words faded.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kei whispered, “I love you.”


	8. "I loved you"

Shoyou had just gotten out of practice when he stretched his hands over his head, let out a small groan, and said, “Ahh, I can’t wait to get home.”

Bokuto laughed loudly and slapped Shoyou on the back, “Eager to see Tsukki?” 

“Yes!” Shoyou nodded, “The museum was closed today for some reason and I tried to get him to come practice with us today and he said,” Shoyou lowered his voice to match his boyfriend’s monotone drawl, “I’d rather die.” 

“That sounds just like him!” Bokuto burst out laughing again. 

“I don’t get it,” Atsumu interjected, “What do you see in that guy?”

Shoyou stopped walking and tilted his head to look curiously at Atsumu, like he had spoken in a foreign language, “Do you remember,” Shoyou began carefully, “our first Nationals? In high school?” 

Atsumu nodded, “Yeah, Karasuno beat us.”

“Back when we beat you, I didn’t love Kei,” he looked up towards the waxing moon, “but then the rest of Nationals happened. I saw him cry for the first time and it was the first time I thought he was pretty.” Shoyou quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and groaned, “Ugh, don’t tell him I said any of that.”

“So you saw him cry and fell in love? That’s weird,” Atsumu said. Even Bokuto nodded to agree.

Shoyou shook his head, “After Nationals we trained together a lot and talked a lot and I always knew that Kei was smart but I didn’t know that he was really funny,” he smiled to himself, “It was a different kind of funny though. But Kei really opened up and he let me be myself too.” 

It was Atsumu’s turn to laugh, “Yer always yerself, Shoyou.” 

He turned and looked at the moon again, “In our second year of high school he pulled me out of the gym one morning and told me to ‘just do it’ and I thought he meant confess because we weren’t dating yet but I really liked him and then he was all ‘you’re obviously sad, just be sad already’ but I didn’t know what he was talking about until he shoved my arm and I burst into tears,” he chuckled to himself, “Kei’s really bad at his own feelings but he’s always good at letting me have mine.” 

Bokuto tilted his head, “Why do all of your love stories involve crying?”

Shoyou gasped over dramatically, “They don’t! Once we were practicing and he dumped water on his head and I ran right into the net because he’s so pretty. You two should look at him, he’s really pretty,” he rocked on the balls of his feet, “I really want to go home now!” 

“Tsukki is very pretty,” Bokuto agreed as Shoyou took off running. 

As Shoyou rounded the corner of the gym a hand shot out to grab his arm and used his momentum to spin him around and push him up against the wall. He managed to gasp out “Kei” before Kei’s lips were upon him. Shoyou kissed him back eagerly, ignoring the fact they were in public or that his teammates were there. He had just been talking about how pretty his boyfriend was so to have him there to kiss was everything he could have asked for. 

Kei slid his hand down to Shoyou’s thigh and Shoyou hitched it up on Kei’s waist so they could use it for leverage as Kei hoisted his smaller boyfriend higher up against the wall to even out their height difference and make kissing easier. He threaded his fingers through Kei’s hair to tilt his head the way he wanted and he really wished that they were at home. 

Kei was the first to break the kiss. 

“I loved you,” he said quietly, capturing Shoyou’s lips again for a quick kiss, “back in our first year.”

Shoyou blushed, “You heard all tha-- wait. We weren’t even friends then!” 

Kei kissed him again, “Details.” 

Atsumu cleared his throat behind them, “Go home you two.”

Kei lazily looked over his shoulder at his boyfriend’s teammates, “Wow, did you really stay and watch us make out? I’m sure you’ve heard of the internet for sure things.”

Shoyou stifled a laugh, he was still pressed against the wall but he didn’t seem to mind, “but Kei,” he said loudly, “I told them about how pretty you are!” 

He turned back to his boyfriend, “and they can use the internet to look me up too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Tsukki immediately regrets his words, no he's not on the internet because of THAT, he meant volleyball your cretins)


	9. "I'll take you"

For once Kei and Shoyou’s days off aligned. It was a Thursday afternoon and neither of them had any prior commitments, be it work or volleyball, anyone to see, or anywhere to be. 

If it were up to Kei he would have spent the entire day lazing around in bed, read a book, caught up on social media, took a nap, anything that didn’t involve him leaving the bedroom. But life rarely seemed up to Kei. The night before he forgot to turn off his morning alarm and when it went off he automatically went through his morning routine until he was dressed and finally realized that he didn’t have to go to work. By then he was too annoyed to get back into bed.

Shoyou, the traitor, had simply watched him go about his routine with an amused smile on his face. Even though Shoyou didn’t have practice today he still got up with the sun to go for a run or whatever else he did at such ungodly hours. (Kei figured that Shoyou also meditated while Kei was still asleep because there was something about seeing Shoyou so still that set off something in Kei’s brain that said “must bother'' and for weeks whenever he saw him meditating he automatically walked by and pushed him over. Then for some weird reason he didn’t see Shoyou meditate anymore.)

Kei glared at his partner but Shoyou handed him a fresh cup of coffee and that was better than any other form of apology. 

“What do you want to do today?” Shoyou asked as he took the first sip.

“Nothing.” 

Shoyou scrunched up his nose at him, “We never get the day off together. We should do something.”

Kei rubbed his eyes, “What do you want?” 

He shrugged, “I’m supposed to ‘take it easy physically’ today” he said, making air quotes around the part his coach always tells him to do with his days off, “What do you do when you’re off by yourself?” 

“Stay home,” he said automatically. It was his day of rest. He wanted to use it to actually rest. But he could already see Shoyou starting to make another face at him. Kei sighed, “Sometimes I go to the museum.” 

“You go to work,” he started slowly, “on your day off.” 

He took a few long sips of his coffee, “I work in the archives. I go look at the exhibits.”

Shoyou lit up, “Let’s go on a museum date!” 

The museum wasn’t busy early on a Thursday morning. It was so not busy that the woman working the entry hall recognized Kei even though they worked on completely different sides of the museum. She greeted him politely and discreetly took in that not only was he entering through the door for patrons but he was holding someone’s hand so he was not here for business.

Kei tried to pay for their entrance but she refused to take his money (“No, Tsukishima-san, we pay you to be here, not the other way around” “At least let me pay for him”) and after a small back and forth, Kei eventually gave up. 

Even though Kei exclusively worked behind the scenes he knew his way around the museum like a seasoned tour guide. He led Shoyou from exhibit to exhibit and explained all that he knew about it, from where the artifacts were found to their cultural significance. Rarely did he stop to read the plaques next to the items but Shoyou found that when he did it was most often to check a date or time period. 

Shoyou loved listening to his boyfriend talk. It wasn’t often that Kei opened up to him like this because Kei always worried that he was going to bore him. Shoyou was always going to remember the time he offhandedly asked Kei how his thesis was going and Kei talked non-stop about it for two hours. By the time the lecture/rant was over Shoyou hadn’t understood a single word of it and he was pretty sure his brain was going to leak out of his ears but he did manage to stutter out “wow, I love you,” before Kei apologized for boring him. 

Shoyou was feeling the same way now. Kei was talking about things that he didn’t really understand but he did it so passionately that Shoyou couldn’t help but feel the squeeze of love in his chest. He needed to do something for this man. After the tour was over they were going to march over to the museum gift shop and Shoyou was going to buy the biggest dinosaur plush toy they had. 

He squeezed Kei’s hand to nonverbally signal that he was overflowing with affection because he didn’t want Kei to stop talking, but he must have done something wrong because Kei stopped and looked at him oddly. 

“What?” 

“I’ll take you,” Shoyou blurted out.

Kei squinted at him, “What?” 

“The museum gift shop,” he clarified, “I’ll take you.” 

Kei tried to hide a smile, “I work here, I can go to the shop whenever I want.”

Shoyou shook his head, “But you don’t, or else there would be a lot more stuff in our apartment. So I’m going to take you to the gift shop and buy the biggest dinosaur thing they have.”

“Oh,” Kei felt his cheeks turn pink, “Why?” 

“Because I love you.” 

Kei looked away from Shoyou and back to the artifact he had just been talking about, “That’s going to be really expensive.”

“You’re worth it.”

Even though he wasn’t looking, he knew Shoyou was smiling.


	10. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Kei was deep into his work. The museum had just been approved to host a roaming exhibit and it was part of his job as an archivist to search through the museum annals to see what artifacts the museum already had that could be promoted alongside the exhibit. The approval already meant the museum would get increased foot traffic but they wanted to keep that traffic after the exhibit moved on to its next stop.

Kei had worked hard to earn his museum a spot on the tour, put in countless hours doing research and writing proposals. He was thrilled that his work had paid off and they were approved, but it just meant that they were on the next step. The planning phase meant more research and more hours spent in the back halls of his beloved museum.

At least while he shuffled through papers and sifted through the museum database he was allowed to keep his headphones on, volume on as low as possible so he could hear if someone called for him and no one was able to sneak up on him. For the most part people left him alone until he approached them, or they sent him a meeting request and scheduled their time with him like a polite and competent coworker.

Everyone knew he was busy. Family, friends, everyone.

So when he got a text from Kenma of all people telling him that he should call Shoyou, he ignored it. Kenma was more Shoyou’s friend than his, but he didn’t need someone else to tell him to call his boyfriend. He was busy. And if Shoyou really needed something he would call him instead.

Kei sighed and flipped his phone upside down so he wouldn’t be able to see the screen light up with any incoming notifications.

A bit over an hour later his phone rang. Kenma’s name flashed on the screen.

People other than Shoyou didn’t usually call him. Even his own parents and brother didn’t call him. Most people knew that he didn’t like talking on the phone, he tended to be more brusque on the phone than he did in person. In his opinion there were very few things that needed a phone call, especially when texting and emailing existed.

“What?” he snapped into the phone.

“Where have you been?” Kenma practically hissed into the phone.

Kei was going to make a snide comment about how just because he was a former Nekoma student didn’t mean he had to act like a cat but he heard something in the background, “Are you at the hospital?”

“Shoyou wouldn’t call you because you’re busy,” he sighed.

Kei was already most of the way through shutting down his computer, “Why is Shoyou at the hospital?”

He heard a scuffle on the other end of the line before, “Kei! Don’t come here!” Shoyou said loudly. He must have wrestled the phone away from Kenma, “I’m fine, everything is fine. You’re super busy and I’m super fine.”

“You’re at the hospital Shoyou!” Kei finished packing away everything he was allowed to bring off-site and quickly made his way over to his supervisor, “My boyfriend is in the hospital, I need to go.”

His supervisor waved him off, allowing him to go, and Shoyou squawked on the other end of the line, “Don’t come here.”

Kei lowered his voice, “Tell me what is wrong or hand the phone back to Kozume and he will do it for you.”

Shoyou let out a defeated sigh, “I just twisted my ankle. I feel fine but they’re being careful.”

“I’ll be right there,” Kei hung up on him.

By the time Kei got to the hospital Shoyou was being released. The injury really was nothing to worry about but still, Kei was upset. He thanked Kenma for his help and held Shoyou’s hand as they waited for a cab to drive them home (“No, Shoyou, we can’t walk home after you were released from the hospital for hurting your ankle, you absolute idiot.”).

In the car Kei turned to Shoyou, “You called Kenma.”

Shoyou nodded, “I did.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“You’ve been super busy! I didn’t want to get in your way.”

Kei grabbed Shoyou’s hands but then dropped them and grabbed his face, “If you are ever hurt, you call me. It doesn’t matter how busy you are.”

Shoyou nodded again.

* * *

Two weeks later Kei’s phone rang while he was neck deep in paperwork.

“Sho?”

“I got a paper cut!”

He hung up.


	11. "Would you stop?"

Shoyou was trying. 

He was trying very hard to bring the habits he carefully cultivated in Rio back to Japan. That meant keeping on schedule, keeping his space clean, keeping his diet healthy and consistent, and keeping his exercise regime intact. 

When he moved in with Kei he did not expect him to sabotage him at every turn. 

From the outside Kei seemed like an extremely put together person. If someone had plucked the former Karasuno first years from the middle of their respective days and lined them up and asked any random person passing by which of them was the most put together person, most people would most like pick Kei. Shoyou would have picked Kei! 

And then he lived with him. 

It was almost endearing how much of a disaster Kei could be. It was a whole other side to his boyfriend that he didn’t know existed. Sure he knew that Kei could be impossible to wake up in the morning, but he didn’t know that if left alone in the kitchen too soon after waking something would inevitably break and Kei wouldn’t have the brain power to figure out what to do about it.

Which is how two days after moving in Shoyou found Kei standing in the kitchen just staring at the broken mug at his feet like he was wondering how it got there. Shoyou finally understood why Kei had so many mugs, and it wasn’t because he loved coffee that much. 

After adequately waking up, which took various amounts of time depending on the time of year, weather, what he had to do at work that day, and-- Shoyou was pretty sure about this one-- phase of the moon, Kei took forever to get dressed. He would stare blankly at the closet just as he did the broken mug in the kitchen and try and figure out what to wear to work. In the end he was always dressed very nicely, but it took forever. 

Shoyou had tried to suggest that Kei pick out clothes the night before but Kei scoffed at him and said he didn’t know what the weather would be so he couldn’t possibly pick out clothes. Shoyou wanted to tell him that he knew for certain that Kei had two, maybe three different weather apps on his phone and if he didn’t have to devote so much time standing in front of his closet he could get more sleep… but it wasn’t worth it. 

Kei was surprisingly messy at times. When he got changed he dropped his old clothes on the floor and didn’t put them in the laundry basket, and he often didn’t clean his dishes after using them. His desk was something else entirely, covered in papers Shoyou couldn’t understand. But every once in a while it was like a switch went off in his brain and Kei had to clean everything he could touch and couldn’t sleep until it was done. 

Nothing was safe from these cleaning rampages. Shoyou once saw him take a picture down from the wall and clean the back of the frame. It was like he had to touch everything.

He learned of a few other of Kei’s compulsions in the first few weeks of living with him. 

Like Kei had to turn off every light he walked by if he was leaving the room, even if Shoyou was still in the room and needed the light. 

Or Kei liked all of his shelves just so and would spend time making sure things were right. (Once Shoyou put a cookbook back in the wrong place, it was only off by one spot, and he saw Kei walk by the shelf, stop, fix it, and then spend five more minutes making sure everything else was in the right spot.)

Or Kei ate his food one type at a time and never mixed them. He was surprised he didn’t notice that back in high school. 

Shoyou understood that all of these were part of his boyfriend, all of them kept him running and functioning in some way or another.

But he could not understand, and would never understand, Kei’s weird need to push Shoyou over whenever he was still for too long. It started with Kei lightly pushing him while they were watching television and asking him if he was still awake, and Shoyou brushed it off because he did have a tendency to fall asleep on the couch while watching television if he didn’t find the show properly stimulating. 

But then Kei came into the kitchen one night while Shoyou was reading over his schedule for the next few weeks and put his palm against the side of Shoyou’s head and pushed him over. When he first felt the hand on his head he thought Kei was going to ruffle his hair like he sometimes did, not shove him out of the chair.

“What was that for!” he yelled in surprise.

Kei looked at his hand and then down at his boyfriend who was sprawled out on the floor, “Oh, sorry,” he said, almost as surprised by his actions. 

But the worst, the absolute worst, was when Kei would walk by when he was meditating and casually push him over, ruining his calm state. 

After one to many times he finally snapped, “Would you stop that?” 

Kei was almost out of the room already when he turned and asked “Stop what?” 

“Pushing me over!” 

“No.” 

Shoyou got to his feet, “What do you mean, no?” 

“I mean, I like pushing you over,” Kei said simply. 

He let out a frustrated groan, “Why?” 

Kei smiled at him, it was one of those predatory grins that set off his fight or flight instincts, “Because it riles you up. Also, seeing you so still is annoying. You should buzz around like a gnat.” 

“Aww,” Shoyou cooed, “you love me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the world needs more non-neurotypical Tsukishima Kei


	12. "Yeah, I was there"

There were times when Shoyou just didn’t shut up. 

For the most part, Kei was used to it. He had a pretty good sense of when he actually had to listen to his boyfriend talk and when he could tune it all out and throw out the occasional “uh huh” to pretend that he was engaging with the extremely one sided conversation. There were some topics that were absolutely safe to not listen to, and once Shoyou started ramping up Kei took out his phone and found something to scroll through.

Sometimes Shoyou talked about his walk home for upwards of thirty minutes. He talked about inconsequential things like, instead of turning on this street I turned on that street instead and I think it took more time than usual. Or, he walked by a store and it smelled good. Or he pet a dog and maybe they should get a pet but they would have to move first because their apartment was too small. 

Kei didn’t need to know about any of that. Shoyou didn’t need to tell him any of that. But every day he put aside some time to let his over excitable boyfriend talk at him about whatever he wanted. 

But that didn’t mean he had to actually listen to what Kageyama was up to, or the (not) funny joke Bokuto told him, or how much he ate at lunch. 

Kei was fairly certain that part of this ritual was simply that Shoyou liked to hear his own voice. Because it happened even on days where they stayed home together. Kei couldn’t count the number of times where they watched a movie together and when it was over Shoyou turned to him and recounted the entire plot in excruciating detail with childish sound effects like the credits weren’t still rolling. 

The first few times it happened, way back in high school when they had first started dating, Kei had tried to interrupt him and say that they had just watched it and he knew what happened, Shoyou didn’t have to tell him. But Shoyou barrelled through. 

(Eventually Kei figured out that talking aloud was how Shoyou processed information so it made sense that he needed to verbally run down things that he did and watched. Kei often needed to keep his hands busy to better hear someone talking to him, so he couldn’t judge too much. But then again, it was every single movie and it would drive him crazy if he didn’t like him so much.)

There were some things that Kei wasn’t allowed to tune out. 

If Shoyou was talking about something going on with his family, Kei listened to him. 

If Shoyou was worried about anything, Kei listened to him. And that even included things he usually didn’t listen to, so he paid attention to if he should have turned right or left at that intersection if Shoyou seemed genuinely troubled by it, and he definitely paid attention when Shoyou worried that Kageyama was getting farther ahead than him. 

And, if he managed to go to one of Shoyou’s games, he wasn’t allowed to tune out the extensive play-by-play that would inevitably follow afterwards. But he was allowed to ruffle his boyfriend’s hair and affectionately say, “Yeah, Sho, I know. I was there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed my username and icon to match my tumblr username for consistency. Every time I go on AO3 it confuses me now but I promise I'm the same person :)


	13. "Don't say that"

Every so often Shoyou managed to drag Kei to a Karasuno reunion. Kei hated going to them. He hated making small talk about how work was going and if he was still playing volleyball. He hated that he was expected to ask about people’s lives as if he didn’t have them on social media and know about it already. But most of all he hated how his former teammates still managed to look surprised when he and Shoyou showed up together. 

He wanted to spit out that yes, they were still together. And no, they didn’t have to make a big deal about it. 

Shoyou thought that he was seeing things that weren’t there. Their teammates had always been supportive of them being together, but Kei was always quick to point out that they had also been confused by their coupling as well. Still, Shoyou insisted, no one minded that they were together or was actively rooting against them. 

That didn’t stop Kei from remembering Tanaka insisting that they were pulling a prank, or Asahi’s baffled look back when they had announced they were going out. 

Regardless, Shoyou asked him to go to the reunion and he acquiesced like he always did. He stuck to the fringes of the party, picking one place and standing there, letting others come to him if they wanted to talk and doing no searching out of his own. The only upside to the get together was that he got to see Tadashi and Hitoka, he didn’t get to see them nearly enough. And talking to Ennoshita wasn’t too bad either. 

Shoyou bounced around from person to person, unable to have a full conversation with someone before he was pulled into another. Kei would have found that annoying but Shoyou always managed to finish all of his conversations before he left, and no one seemed to mind when he was pulled away. At least no one tried to bodily remove him from Kei while they were talking, because he absolutely would have minded. 

Over the years the reunion had grown, by now half of the people in attendance were people he didn’t even play with. Sometimes it felt more like a networking event than a meetup between old friends as some of the younger members tried to talk to Shoyou or Kageyama about their professional careers. Some of the more daring members even tried to talk to him about his, not in the slightest put off by his sour expression.

One of those kids, Kei couldn’t even remember his name, had decided that the right time to talk to Kei was during one of the brief moments he would have with Shoyou at the party. 

Shoyou had brought him a drink and wrapped himself around his arm, Kei sipped it as he talked a mile a minute about everything all of their former teammates were up to. The young kid hovered right outside of their bubble and swayed just enough to get to Shoyou’s attention. 

“Oh, hello,” Shoyou said, leaning around Kei to get a look, “did you want to talk?” 

“I, um,” he looked between Kei and Shoyou, “wanted to talk to Tsukishima. My college coach said I should try out for a professional team and I know that he, um you,” he glanced up at Kei when he realized he was only talking to Shoyou, “balanced college and V-League and I wanted to ask how you did it.” 

“Aww, Kei,” Shoyou laughed as he turned to look up at Kei, putting a hand on his waist and pulling himself closer as he did so, “someone actually wants to talk to you!” 

Kei scrunched up his nose. 

“Are you two dating?” the kid asked, apparently taking in their physical closeness for the first time. 

It was Shoyou’s turn to make a face, “Oh, don’t say that, especially if you want Kei’s advice,” but he smiled again anyway, “I’m surprised you didn’t know. We’ve been together since high school and you knew about his college career.” 

Kei scoffed, “We’re not that public.” 

Shoyou gasped in fake offense, “We live together and we’ve been photographed together and I’ve mentioned you in interviews.” 

“We could live together because rent is expensive, and be photographed together because we live together, and you talk about a lot of volleyball players,” Kei reasoned. 

“Tsukishima Kei,” Shoyou said, taking a step away from Kei so he could cross his arms and properly admonish his boyfriend, “tell this man you love me and you’ll talk to him about going pro in college like a good senpai.” 

Kei looked away, blush rising on his cheeks, “Absolutely not.” 

“I can go…” the kid whose name Kei still didn’t know said. 

“No!” Shoyou grabbed his arm to keep him in place and turned back to Kei, “Now talk to him or I won’t do that thing you like tonight.”

Kei’s jaw dropped, “Don’t say that! He’s going to get weird ideas!”

Shoyou laughed louder, “Have fun talking!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Shoyou promised to take him to the bakery if he went to the reunion but now everyone definitely thinks Kei gets manipulated by dirty promises)


	14. "I'll take the couch"

Shoyou slipped into bed and pressed fully against his boyfriend’s back. He placed open mouth kisses on the back of Kei’s neck and slid his hand down to Kei’s hip as he groaned.

Kei swatted at his hand lightly, “Sho,” he groaned into his pillow, “stop, I’m sleeping.”

Shoyou smiled into his neck before he dragged his teeth against his neck, eliciting more wonderful sounds, “But Kei,” he complained, “I haven’t seen you in days and I just got home.”

“Shoulda got home earlier then,” Kei said as he tried to squirm away from Shoyou’s firm grip, “I have work in the morning and wanna sleep.”

“But I want you,” Shoyou whispered hotly in his ear. He felt Kei shudder against him and Shoyou knew that he had to go for the kill, “Please, Kei?”

He heard Kei quietly mutter “fuck” under his breath before he turned around and captured Shoyou’s mouth in a kiss. The kiss started a bit clumsy because Kei was drowsy but it was difficult to stay asleep while he had Shoyou’s lips on his and his teeth scraping against his lower lip.

Kei pulled Shoyou on top of him and let his boyfriend’s hands wander. Shoyou pushed up his shirt so he could touch Kei’s bare chest. But when he tried to push down his waistband he felt Kei smirk against the kiss and suddenly he was on the floor.

Shoyou blinked up at the ceiling.

“Why do you always push me off the bed!” he yelled in an infuriating combination of turned on and annoyed.

“Why do you always interrupt my sleep?” Kei shot back as he rolled over and brought the blanket back up over his shoulder, “Good night, Shoyou.”

Shoyou stared up at the bed and his boyfriend’s back. Kei was kind of an asshole. He knew that, obviously, and for the most part he loved Kei for all of his quirks. But he really was tired of being pushed out of the bed every time Kei was grumpy with him about something.

Sure, it was partially his fault because he pushed Kei after he said no, but part of Kei’s personality was to say no to everything Shoyou asked simply on principle so of course Shoyou pushed a little bit. He could have just said no again, he would have listened.

He grabbed his pillow, “I’ll take the couch.”

Kei sat up, “Really, Sho?”

“Go to sleep, Kei, you need to get your sleep,” he said as he left the room.

Kei watched him leave but laid back down and tried to go back to sleep. He had slept alone the past few nights, he could do it again.

Shoyou trudged down the hall and made his way to the couch. There was already a comfortable blanket thrown over the back of the couch that he could use to sleep with. Kei tended to run cold and liked to wrap up in it if he was going to sit for long periods of time.

He laid down and fell asleep.

* * *

When Shoyou woke up he was hot and his body ached and for a moment he worried that he was getting sick but when he cracked his eyes open he was greeted with a head of blond hair and Kei asleep on top of him.

He must have been really out of it if he didn’t wake up when Kei joined him.

Shoyou craned his neck to look around. Kei’s legs were hanging over the edge of the couch but both of his arms were curled up on Shoyou’s chest. It was still dark out but it usually was when he woke up, he never got out of the habit of waking up early from high school. He didn’t have to prepare himself for biking over a mountain but he still enjoyed the early morning hours.

He couldn’t go on his usual run or do his usual exercise routine, and his stomach was upset at the lack of food and soon his bladder would need attending to, but he had no plans on moving any time soon.

Shoyou ran a hand through Kei’s hair and Kei sighed lightly.

Yeah, this was good.


	15. "You lied to me"

Kei was stretched out on the couch enjoying a good book when the front door slammed open and Shoyou stormed in. 

“You lied to me,” he yelled, throwing his hand in the air, “I can’t believe you would lie to me!” 

Kei sat up and closed his book. He tried to run through every conversation they had in the past few days to find out what he could have possibly lied about. He wasn’t really one to lie unless he was trying to rile Shoyou up, but Shoyou always knew what he was doing and he barely counted those as lies. 

“Did I, now?” He asked calmly as he watched his partner pace back and forth. 

“Did I, now” Shoyou mimicked, “You know you did!” 

It must have been something recent if Shoyou expected him to remember but he really couldn’t recall anything. All of their conversations lately had been rather simple-- how has your day been, what do you want for dinner, do you want to watch the volleyball match that’s on. Kei couldn’t even remember the last fact he shared with Shoyou, he didn’t make a habit of lecturing his boyfriend about things. 

“I give, what did I lie to you about?” Kei sighed. 

“About cactuses!”

What? 

Kei stared at him. He had lied to him. About something to do with cacti? When had they ever, and he meant ever, spoken about anything to do with cacti? Or deserts? Or anything remotely adjacent to them? 

Shoyou was still looking at him with a determined look waiting for him to confess his supposed cactus crimes but Kei had no idea what was going through his thick skull. 

“What?” he asked, completely baffled. 

He let out an annoyed grumble, “You told me cactuses had soft fur that was nice to pet and today I went to the store and saw a cactus and tried to pet it and it hurt! It hurt, Kei! The team doctor spent all of practice picking needles out of my hand. Needles aren’t nice to pet, Kei!” 

Kei burst out laughing. There was no chance for him to hold it in. Shoyou was barely a sentence into his rant before Kei had to bite his lip to try and stifle it but by the time he said his name the first time he was a goner. 

Unfortunately, Kei had told him that cacti were nice to pet. Except he had told him that in their first year of high school and they were so many years removed from that he couldn’t even remember how the topic had come up.

“That was so long ago!” he laughed, “Don’t tell me, please don’t tell me you’ve been waiting to pet,” he burst into another round of laughter and had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself, “been waiting to pet a cactus for all these years?” 

Shoyou crossed his arms and looked away, telling Kei everything he needed to know and making him laugh more. How did he fall for someone so endearingly stupid? 

“Don’t laugh at me,” Shoyou pouted, “I wasted the entire day.” 

Kei pushed his glasses up and wiped his eyes with his palms, “Okay, okay, I’m done,” he took a few more deep breaths to compose himself, “Can I see your hand.” 

Shoyou sat down next to him and showed Kei his hand. It was a bit red and irritated but it looked okay. Shoyou repeated as much, the team doctor said he would most likely be okay to resume playing tomorrow. 

“Have you lied to me about anything else?” he grumbled.

“Shoyou,” Kei said seriously, “I say this with the utmost care for you now. Assume anything I told you in the first year of high school was a lie for my own amusement.”

Shoyou shoved him and walked away, muttering about asshole boyfriends.

Kei texted Tadashi.


	16. "Take my hand"

Kei was at work when his phone rang. He wasn’t going to answer it but something compelled him to check to see who would bother him in the middle of the day. No one tried to call him anymore because he rarely ever answered. 

But “Shoyou” was flashing on his phone. 

He quickly checked the time and decided he could take his lunch break early. 

“Shoyou?” he answered as he locked down his computer.

There was a nervous laugh on the other end of the line that was absolutely not Shoyou, “Hey Tsukki,” Bokuto chuckled, “Can you come down here?” ‘

Kei started packing up his things, “Is he injured?” 

“No! Nothing like that,” Bokuto said frantically, “he’s having a bad day and we could use your help.”

“I’ll be there soon.” 

Kei hung up the phone without saying goodbye. He told his supervisor that he needed to leave early and she was luckily very understanding, it helped that Kei was a very good worker. He told her that he would try and come back after he dealt with his personal issue but he wasn’t sure how long it would take. 

Outside of the museum Kei hailed a taxi to the stadium where Shoyou was practicing. He didn’t like paying for the car but it would get him there faster than walking would. 

Once he was inside the car he finally had a second to think. Did Shoyou give Bokuto his phone to call him or did Bokuto take it? What was happening that either of them felt the need to call Kei? He knew that Shoyou had been worried lately, it was almost time to try out for the National team again and he was worried that he wouldn’t make it because there was a new crop of great players, but it wasn’t like him to be so down on himself. 

Shoyou had his weaknesses, Kei had helped him through some moments of waving confidence but they were never that bad.

When they pulled up to the stadium Kei paid the driver and then realized he had a small problem. He had to figure out how to get inside. Some of the workers knew who he was but that didn’t mean they were just going to let him inside because he showed up out of the blue.

Should he call Shoyou or Bokuto? Did Bokuto still have Shoyou’s phone? 

He decided that there was no reason to bother Shoyou about it if he was already having a hard time and he called Bokuto’s phone. He answered on the second ring and told Kei to go to the front entrance and that he would bring him back. 

It took a few minutes for Bokuto to show up at the door but when he did he could immediately see how worried he looked. 

“What’s wrong with Shoyou?” he demanded.

“He’s not talking,” Bokuto answered, nose scrunched up, “We tried to get him hyped up so we could practice but he got upset and I asked him if he wanted to see you and he handed me his phone.” 

Kei could tell that Bokuto was leading him to the locker rooms. He wondered if Shoyou spent any time on the court today or if he only managed to get himself changed before getting stuck. 

When he finally saw Shoyou he was sitting on a locker room bench with his forehead pressed against his knees. He looked small. It was so unlike him. 

He turned to Bokuto before he entered the room, “Thank you for calling me. I’ll take it from here.” 

Kei sat down next to Shoyou and wrapped an arm around him. Shoyou immediately sagged against him, practically falling in his lap. Kei rubbed his back and ran his fingers through his hair and gave them some time to simply exist together before he started asking what was wrong. If he dove right in, Shoyou might clam up. 

When he felt his shoulders relax Kei figured then was as good a time as any, “What’s going on, Sho?” he asked quietly.

Shoyou let out a deep breath, “What if I don’t make it?” he asked in a quiet voice that didn’t suit him at all. 

“Then you work hard and try again next time. But for what it’s worth, I know you’ll make it,” Shoyou sat up and looked at him with glassy eyes, “You already work harder than anyone I know, you put in a ton of time and effort, and they’re not going to find a bigger volleyball idiot than you.” 

“Are you trying to insult me or make me feel better?” he said with a soft smile. 

Kei scoffed, “Insult you, always. Now,” he stood up and offered his partner his hand, “take my hand and let’s go home. We’re going to eat things you’re usually not allowed to and you can start again tomorrow.”

He took Kei’s hand.


	17. "Maybe you didn’t love me after all"

“Kei?” Shoyou peeked into the room where his boyfriend was working. 

“Hmm?” Kei asked, not looking away from his computer. He had brought work home from the museum.

Shoyou took his response as permission to enter the room, “Do you miss volleyball?” 

Kei’s fingers paused on the keys and he glanced over his shoulder at his partner, just now noticing his hesitancy, “Where is this coming from? I still play volleyball.” 

He shook his head, “I mean professional volleyball.” 

“I chose my job over playing,” he turned back to his computer, “and not having to worry about travelling. I still play on the neighborhood team which isn’t as challenging but it's fulfilling enough. I don’t regret my choice.” 

“I feel like it’s my fault,” Shoyou blurt out, “that you quit. I know you say it’s because you love your job and you had to take too much time off but--”

Kei turned around in his desk chair and raised a hand to stop him from talking, “No, you’re right. I chose you too. When I was playing we had to worry about two conflicting schedules. Now I’m always here and get to see you. That works for me. Now, again, where is this coming from?”

Shoyou sighed and held out his phone. Displayed on the screen was an article officially stating that his old team was moving up to Division 1. Kei pretended to read the article while he thought about what he was feeling. He could have been on a top tier team, played against the best of the best. Played against Shoyou.

But at the same time, he didn’t feel that bad. It would have meant more time he would have to put in with the team and less with the job he loved and the person he loved. 

“I see,” he said slowly, “Maybe you don’t love me after all. You just wanted me for my blocking abilities and now you feel like you’re missing out.” 

Shoyou gaped at him, unsure of how to react to Kei’s completely unexpected reaction. But he gets his footing again when he realizes Kei is joking, “Yup,” he said, extending it into a multi-syllable word, “You caught me. I’m going to have to find a better blocker or maybe a setter.”

Kei let out a displeased noise and turned back to his computer. 

“But where would I find one? And then I’d have to put in ten years worth of work.”

Shoyou heard a small ‘tsk’ noise before Kei grabbed him by the waist and pulled him into his lap. His kiss was hot and demanding, Kei tangled his fingers into Shoyou’s hair to better maneuver him and Shoyou so willingly let himself be manhandled. He moaned when Kei sucked his lower lip into his mouth and dragged his teeth across it on its way out. 

“What were you saying about ten years?” Kei asked lowly as he trailed kisses down Shoyou’s neck. 

He grabbed Kei’s head to keep him at a particularly sensitive part of his neck, “me and mystery boy would need to be together for ten years to be together for longer than us,” he somehow managed to gasp out between Kei kissing and nipping at his neck. 

“In another ten years you may be too old to play. What if he doesn’t want you?” Kei punctuated his question with a hard bite. 

Shoyou gasped loudly, “That’s, that’s when I come crawling back to you.” 

Kei leaned back and captured his mouth in a quick kiss, “What if I don’t want you?”

“You always want me.”

Kei looked at his waiting and wanting partner, then glanced at his computer where his work still mocked him. He heard Shoyou start to whine, thinking he was being turned away, but Kei silenced him with another hard kiss, “Work can wait, you’re more important.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RE: ten years -- I imagine they're like..... 26ish and got together late high school so they've probably been together more like 8 years, but sometimes when you've been in a relationship for a long time you just gotta round up


	18. "So... you think I'm hot?"

“Tadashi,” Kei said into the phone as he was stretched out on the couch, “I need help.”

Tadashi chuckled on the other end, “I never thought the day would come.”

“Shut up,” he said reflexively. 

He didn’t even bother apologizing to Kei anymore, for the most part they were past that song and dance, unless Tadashi found the exchange particularly amusing, “”What’s up?” 

Kei groaned, “Shoyou.” 

Tadashi laughed again, “What’s he doing?” 

“Wearing shorts. In the middle of winer. I wasn’t prepared.” 

“Why do you always call me when you’re in the middle of a gay panic?” 

Kei scoffed, “This is not gay panic and I do not.”

He could hear Tadashi grinning on the other end of the phone, “Once, you called me because he--”

“--okay we don’t need to go over every time I’ve called you,” he cut his friend off before he could go over Kei’s most embarrassing moments. 

“So do the shorts bother you?” he asked, putting his friend-hat back on rather than his teasing one. 

Kei’s only response was to groan again. There was no good way to explain why the shorts were a problem, at least no good way to explain to his best friend. 

“Why not turn the heat down and make it too cold for shorts?” he suggested.

“I tried that,” Kei ran a hand down his face in frustration, “he put on one of my sweaters but kept the shorts on and it was so much worse.”

Tadashi snorted, “Don’t you have any gay friends to call about this?”

He scoffed, “Akaashi would probably hang up on me but if he didn’t I also don’t want to give him the chance and reciprocate and talk about Bokuto.” 

“Your life is definitely very hard,” Tadashi agreed.

“You’ve texted me to tell me about Hitoka being cute,” he grumbled, “Why can’t I talk to you about Shoyou being hot?” 

Tadashi was about to answer but Kei’s phone was plucked from his hand. He tilted his head up and looked back at his smiling boyfriend who was saying goodbye to his friend before hanging up. At least he had some manners. 

“So,” Shoyou said, walking around the couch to straddle Kei’s lap, “You think I’m hot?” 

Kei lowered his eyes at him, “You’ve been teasing me.” 

“Yup!” he said cheerfully, “did it work?” 

Kei snapped the band of Shoyou’s shorts, “I hate these stupid things.”

Shoyou laughed brightly, “I don’t think that’s true.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't remember what fic I used this idea in before but I really love the idea of him calling Tadashi to complain about Shoyou being pretty and Tadashi just being like, how could I possibly help with that?? why me?? 
> 
> Tadashi is a long suffering best friend
> 
> Anyway, very short chapter today because I just posted ch3 of Halcyon Days :)


	19. "What are you doing?"

Sometimes Kei hated going to work.

He loved his job, don’t get him wrong, there was nothing else that he would rather be doing. It was the people that he didn’t like. Or, more specifically, one person.

His first few years there had been great. He had a bit of a rocky start, mostly because of who he is as a person, but once everyone adjusted to his aloof demeanor and he adjusted to working in a different type of team setting, everything ran smoothly. He wouldn’t go as far as to say that he had friends there, but he had people that he didn’t mind talking to, and that was almost as good.

Kei, as a rule, kept his personal life to himself.

A lot of his coworkers knew that he used to be a professional volleyball player, but that was simply because when he first started at the museum he was still trying to juggle both and he had to deal with being ‘that cold guy with the weird schedule’. But most of those people didn’t care about sports, and those who did didn’t care about volleyball. So he got to keep that part of him to himself.

Fewer people knew that he was gay. He didn’t fit into a lot of stereotypes except for well dressed and put together, but he didn’t act gay. (Whatever that meant, because once someone tried to compliment him by telling him that he didn’t act gay and Kei was pretty close to telling him that his gay lover would say otherwise.) And again, those who knew didn’t care, or at least they politely pretended they didn’t care, which was good enough for him.

Even fewer people at the museum knew about Shoyou in specific. He wasn’t trying to hide his boyfriend, they went out together when they could, he just didn’t talk about him at work unless it was absolutely necessary. And rarely was it absolutely necessary.

But then his peace was ruined when the museum hired Arakawa Suzu.

Arakawa was a great asset to the museum, she was smart, picked things up quickly, and knew what she was doing. She also had an unfortunate crush on Kei and went out of her way to try and talk to him.

She wasn’t good at taking no for an answer, so when he saw her approaching he did the only logical thing. He hid.

Kei quickly ducked into one of his coworkers’ offices and shut the door.

Okamura looked up at him, “What are you doing?”

“Hiding,” Kei answered immediately.

“From?”

He sighed, “Arakawa.” Okamura motioned for him to sit and Kei sat in one of the two chairs sitting on the opposite side of Okamura’s desk, “She likes to talk to me.”

“Have you turned her down?”

“Of course I turned her down,” Kei scoffed, “Many times, in many ways, but she keeps coming back! I told her I was gay and she didn’t believe me.”

Okamura bit back a smile, it was very rare that Kei ranted at him and he was clearly finding it amusing. Kei did not find it amusing at all.

“Have you considered,” Okamura said slowly, “telling her that you’re getting married? And then you can start wearing a wedding ring.”

Kei shook his head, “Absolutely not. Then she’ll think I’m lying about being gay or Shoyou will want to get symbolically married or something. No way.”

“Well there’s an idea! Bring him around.”

* * *

Usually Kei did not leave the building at the same time as Arakawa because he wanted to avoid giving her any chance to talk to him or get him alone. But today he purposefully waited until she was leaving and left with her.

She lit up when she saw Kei following behind her and slowed her pace so he could catch up to her. He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes when she immediately started flirting but hopefully he wouldn’t have to deal with this for much longer.

When they hoped the door to outside they heard a loud shout of “Kei!” from close by and turned to look.

Kei pretended to be surprised that Shoyou was there waiting for him, “Sho, what are you--”

He was actually surprised when Shoyou jumped at him, wrapped his legs around his waist, and kissed him aggressively. He had to take a second to make sure they didn’t topple over but he let his boyfriend make a scene for a tiny bit more before pulling away.

“Shoyou,” he scolded, “We’re in public.”

Shoyou smiled at him, not sorry in the least, “Sorry, I was happy to see you.”

Arakawa stared at them, “What?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kei turned to her, “I was being rude. This is my boyfriend Shoyou, we’ve been together since high school,” he introduced him with fake politeness.

She walked away in a daze and Kei counted that as a win.


	20. "Let's run. Together."

Sometimes Shoyou got restless.

Kei could always tell. Shoyou had subtle tells that he was getting antsy with the life they were living.

The first sign was easy to miss but Shoyou would begin sleeping less. He would start waking up earlier and earlier, something Kei would never catch because his boyfriend usually woke up while he was still fast asleep. But slowly his 5 a.m. became 4:30 a.m. became 4 a.m. became 3:30 a.m. and his early mornings intersected with Kei’s rare late nights.

When he noticed his boyfriend getting tired much earlier than usual and not doing anything about it he would start looking out for the second sign: more muscle. The extra hours he spent awake he would spend working out, and his small frame was very good at packing on the muscle.

The first time he had gone through this cycle Kei had simply thought that Shoyou was trying to bulk up and appreciated his boyfriend’s new physique, but that had accidentally led to the third and final sign that something was wrong: Shoyou became rougher when they slept together, a lot rougher.

Kei didn’t actually mind mixing things up like that, but he did mind that it was a clear indicator of his current mental state.

The problem was that it took until the third sign for Kei to realize that something was wrong, because he mostly wasn’t aware of Shoyou’s sleeping habits, and him putting on muscle wasn’t a clear sign of anything (once he tried to ask if he was okay because he thought he had put on muscle but it turned out his shirt had just shrunk in the wash), so he had to count on the specific way that Shoyou fucked him.

He wished that Shoyou would talk to him about it, but he understood the irony of that, he wasn’t good at talking about what was bothering him either.

Shoyou’s restlessness was understandable. He was someone who was always moving and always striving to get to the top. But he never considered what he would do after he got to the top. Shoyou had made it to the Olympics, and had proved himself worthy of standing on the world stage. But now what?

Most of the time he was content with playing Division 1 volleyball and traveling around with his team for games or tournaments.

And sometimes he needed more.

* * *

Kei woke up at 3 a.m. because he needed some water and Shoyou wasn’t in bed. In his groggy state he considered gulping down the water he kept by the side of the bed and going back to sleep, but he knew that something must be wrong and pulled himself out of bed.

He wrapped the blanket around himself and went in search of his wayward boyfriend.

He was doing pushups in the kitchen.

“C’mon,” Kei said, “Let’s run. Together.”

Shoyou moved into a sitting position and looked up at him with a confused expression that Kei could barely see because he didn’t bother putting on his glasses, “You want to go for a run? Kei, it’s 3 a.m., go to bed.”

He shook his head, “You’re not in bed. You wanna move. Let’s run.”

“You hate running.”

Kei turned around and headed back to the bedroom to get dressed, “Mmm,” he agreed, “But you need something.”

Shoyou didn’t say anything, he just watched as Kei clumsily dressed in sweatpants and the warmest sweatshirt he had, he was always cold in the morning, and he didn’t believe that they were going out until Kei held up both of their running shoes with a ‘what are you waiting for’ expression.

Kei followed Shoyou on his usual jogging route, trailing behind him a bit both because he wasn’t as fast a runner and because he was still partially asleep. But he knew that Shoyou was feeling that itch to move and he had to do something to help.

After only ten minutes Shoyou led them to a park bench and sat down. Kei gracelessly sat down next to him and heavily leaned on his shoulder, he was tired.

“What do you need, Sho?” he mumbled.

Shoyou shrugged.

“Do you want,” Kei hesitated for a moment, “Do you want to play internationally again?”

He quietly considered that option for a little bit, long enough for Kei to start drifting to sleep so when Shoyou spoke again he was slightly startled awake, “You wouldn’t come with me.”

He shook his head, “Probably not.”

“Then I don’t want to.”

“You don’t have to stay because of me.”

“Kei,” he said seriously, “I can have both things. I don’t need to choose.”

Kei buried his face in Shoyou’s neck, “Good,” he sighed, “I don’t want you to leave. But, what do you need? Have you ever thought about what you would do after you retired?”

He tangled a hand into Kei’s hair and scratched his scalp lightly, “I don’t know. Coach, maybe?”

“Then why don’t you figure out how to do that and you can work on taking steps towards that. Then you won’t feel so stagnant.”

Shoyou took a deep breath, “Yeah.”

“You will need to learn words other than gwahh and zwoom though,” he teased.

“You’re the worst,” Shoyou laughed, relaxing for the first time that night.

Kei laughed quietly, “You’d be lost without me.”

“Yeah,” he agreed warmly.

“Good,” Kei said, getting up and stretching, “now take me home, I’m exhausted.”


	21. "Wow! You're good at this!"

Somehow Kei got conned into helping teach a bunch of elementary school kids how to play volleyball.

The con, of course, was Sugawara calling Shoyou and asking if they were free and Shoyou asking him nicely if he would come too. He did say no at first. Teaching small children wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time (there was a reason he worked in the back of the museum instead of the front), but all it took were two well placed “please, Kei”s and he was acquiescing.

So on a Saturday morning, when he could have been sleeping, they two of them got on a train. Did he mention that the school wasn’t even close by? He spent the entire journey grumbling about how he didn’t want to do this but Shoyou just patted his knee condescendingly and said, “I know.”

The school was in Miyagi, much closer to Karasuno than their apartment in Osaka, and as he watched the scenery go by he couldn’t help but remember their time in high school. Kei wasn’t a sentimental person but something about the rocking of the train and heading back towards home and school had him looking back.

Back to when him and Shoyou barely got along, back to when harsh words lost their edge and slowly became banter and then-- somewhat disgustingly-- flirty, back to their first hesitant kiss when they still weren’t sure if the other was playing a prank on them, back to when they trained every day and bonded over the literal blood, sweat, and tears they shed on and over the court.

He missed playing with a passionate and dedicated team. The neighborhood team he played with kept him somewhat fulfilled but it didn’t have the same type of energy. He was grateful that Shoyou occasionally invited him to practice with his professional team, and that they accepted his presence there, even if practicing with them put him through the wringer.

He looked over at Shoyou who was admiring the passing scenery with the same shiny eyes he admired a good meal, with childlike joy and wonder. Kei smiled at him, he was acting as if he had never been on a train before and it was unbearably cute.

Kei kicked him.

“Ow! What was the for?”

“How much time do we have to get from the station to the school?”

Shoyou rolled his eyes at him as he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. Kei had already asked this question and wrote out an itinerary for their small day trip. But he knew that Kei liked to be prepared for things and he didn’t like to be late.

He unfolded the paper and scanned a few lines, “It should take ten minutes for us to walk there and then it’ll be another half hour before the lesson starts,” he folded it back up and returned it to his pocket, “There’s plenty of time.”

Kei hummed and turned his attention to the window. He didn’t want to go but he did agree so he couldn’t be impolite to a bunch of small children (or Suga), even if he wanted to.

When they disembarked the train Shoyou took a deep breath of the mountain air and laughed loudly. No matter where he traveled he always enjoyed being home. Kei watched him with a small smile.

The walk to the school took less than ten minutes because of Kei’s long strides and Shoyou’s eager pace but even though they were there early, there were already children waiting.

Sugawara was doing a good job at keeping all of them together, the skills he gained as vice captain translated well to being a teacher. When he saw the two of them approaching he waved them over and introduced them to the small group of children.

There were only five of them, not enough to form a team, but they were eager to learn.

They looked up at Kei with stars in their eyes, “Wow,” one of them said, “you’re so tall.”

Kei cleared his throat to hide a smile and nodded, “Yes,” he said awkwardly, “I am.”

“Hey!” Shoyou crossed his arm, “I’m the professional here!”

“But you’re short,” Kei and one of the students said at the same time.

Shoyou looked between the two of them rapidly, not sure if he should scold his boyfriend for making fun of him in front of the children they were supposed to teach or tell the children all about his volleyball accomplishments. (He was an Olympian!)

Suga laughed warmly and put a hand on Shoyou’s shoulder, “Why don’t we go to the gym and you can show them what a professional volleyball player looks like.”

* * *

A half hour later Shoyou preened as the children looked at him starry-eyed and slack jawed.

“Wow! You’re good at this,” the kid who called him short earlier said.

“I know,” he smiled, “I’m a professional!”


	22. "You have a picture of me? On your fridge?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating twice today because I missed yesterday and I just Can't Have That

Shoyou had been invited to an intensive two-month international training camp. It was filled with the best of the best from all around the globe and he was invited. 

When he first got the news he barrelled into the museum to tell Kei and was most of the way inside before he remembered that Kei worked in the back of the museum so Shoyou wasn’t just going to run into him. 

Instead of telling Kei he was there, he took a selfie in front of one of the exhibits and sent it to his boyfriend. He didn’t even have to wait ten minutes before Kei was there looking for him. 

“What are you doing here?” Kei asked suspiciously. 

Shoyou shoved his phone in Kei’s face so he could read the offer letter but kept jumping up and down so he couldn’t actually make heads or tails of what the email said. 

“It’s an amazing offer, right?” he practically yelled, “I should take it.” 

Kei grabbed the phone so he could actually read it, “What is?” he scanned a few lines, “Oh.” 

Shoyou squinted at him, “Oh? Is there something wrong with the offer?” 

“You have to take this.” 

“Yes!” he smiled brightly, “I don’t know who else is going and it’s an international thing so they’re probably asking me because I can speak three languages and that makes things easier but this is so amazing.”

Kei scoffed, “You’re being asked to go because you’re a good volleyball player, don’t think it’s because you’re smart.”

“Did you just call me smart?”

“No, I called you not smart.” 

Shoyou laughed loudly, drawing the attention of people around him, and smiled at Kei in a way that clearly said ‘you know you love me’.

Kei read through the email again, “Do you need permission from your team to go? Two months is a long time to be away,” his voice trailed off. They had done long distance for longer than that but it had been a while since they were apart for so long, and Kei couldn’t leave his job for two months to follow his boyfriend to another country to watch him practice volleyball. 

“I need to talk to them, but it should be fine,” he looked up at Kei with curious eyes, “And you’ll be fine?” 

“Two months without you around?” he scoffed, “Sounds like a vacation.” 

(Later that night, if Kei was a little clingier, Shoyou didn’t say a word.) 

\------

The training camp was in Italy. It took a few days to work out the time difference, Italy being eight hours behind Japan, but eventually they worked out good times to talk or video call. 

Shoyou liked to call Kei while he was having breakfast, and for once Kei was happy that his boyfriend woke up at ungodly hours because 5 a.m. in Italy was 1 p.m. in Japan and he could take his lunch break then and the two of them could pretend they were having a meal together. 

It was during one of those calls that Kei saw it. Or saw them, to be more precise. 

On Shoyou’s refrigerator were three pictures.

One was a candid of Kei that he couldn’t place, with his normal, unimpressed expression. One was of him and Shoyou smiling at each other that he could remember because they were wearing each other’s jerseys. And the last was the two of them kissing, Tadashi had taken it and Kei also had a copy of it somewhere. 

“You have a picture of me? On your fridge?” he asked dumbly. 

Shoyou turned red, “Shut up.” 

“Aww, Sho,” he said lightly, “do you miss me?” 

“At least picture Kei isn’t mean to me,” he grumbled as he took another bite of his breakfast. 

Kei bit back a smile, “You should date him instead, I’m sure you’ll have some riveting conversations.” 

Shoyou stuck out his tongue.

“Mature as always,” Kei said warmly. 

Kei watched as Shoyou finished his breakfast and washed his dishes and got dressed for the day. (That last one he deemed a bit unfair because even though it had only been a few days he did miss touching Shoyou already.) But before they would usually hang up and continue on with their days, Shoyou smiled at him.

“I do, you know,” he said, “miss you.” 

Kei looked away, “Yeah.” 

“A few more weeks and I’ll be home and as annoying as ever.” 

He peeked up and offered a small smile, “I guess that works for me.”


	23. "I think we should stop seeing each other"

“I think we should stop seeing each other.” 

Shoyou froze. Their dinner was still sizzling on the stove but he was fine with letting it burn in favor of trying to process what his boyfriend just said to him.

“What?”

Kei sighed, “I said, I think--”

“No,” Shoyou cut him off, “I heard. But it’s been a while since you tried to break up with me. And. What?” 

Kei rubbed his hands on his pants and Shoyou could tell that he was nervous, “I don’t need a reason,” he grumbled.

“Yes, you do,” Shoyou took a few steps forward until he was right in Kei’s personal space, “We’ve been together for too long for you to just end the relationship without giving me a reason.”

Shoyou reached out and touched his arm and tried to meet his gaze but Kei was doing his best to avoid looking at him. 

“Kei,” he said lightly, “What’s going on?” 

He pulled his arm away, “Nothing is going on.” 

The food sizzled louder behind him and Shoyou knew that he should turn the burner off before the meal was destroyed but getting to the bottom of this was much more important, and if he turned his back for even a second there was always the possibility that Kei would bolt. It had been years since Kei had last run away from him but that didn’t mean the possibility wasn’t still there. 

Shoyou crossed his arms, “Then I’m just going to start guessing things.”

Kei sighed but didn’t go anywhere.

“You like someone else?” 

He scoffed derisively. 

“You think I like someone else?” 

He rocked on his heels for a second but shook his head no. 

“You think you’re holding me back with my career somehow? Because i don’t travel as much”

He made a face.

“You think you’re holding me back.”

It wasn’t a question.

Kei crossed his arms and tried to make himself as small as possible. Shoyou recognized that as his defensive stance and knew that he had guessed correctly. Kei always worried that Shoyou could do better than him, could find a better suited partner, be with someone who was as passionate about volleyball as he was or outgoing or something that Kei wasn’t. But Kei was an idiot. 

Shoyou smiled warmly at him, “You’re such an idiot, Kei.”

“Says you,” he grumbled, unable to keep himself from defending. 

He finally turned around and saved their meal from a fiery demise, “There’s no one better for you than me. You keep me grounded and raise me up. If I didn’t want to be here I wouldn’t be here.” 

Kei blushed, “You’re so small raising you up isn’t that difficult.” 

Shoyou got a dangerous glint in his eye, “I can raise you up too.”

“Don’t you dare,” Kei took a step back but it didn’t matter, Shoyou was faster than him and easily wrapped his arms around Kei’s waist and lifted him off the ground, “Okay, okay, you’ve made your point. Please put me down.” 

“Never,” he smiled, “Now stop trying to break up with me.” 

“Yeah. whatever.” 

“I love you too.”


	24. "Do I know you?"

“I think your boyfriend is here.”

Kei looked up from his computer, “Excuse me?”

“Kind of short, bright orange hair?” his coworker described, “I saw him in the main hall and thought he looked familiar. He’s yours, right?” 

Kei tried not to roll his eyes at his nosy coworker, he was trying to be more polite and that meant not snarking at people who were trying to do nice things for him, “That sounds like him,” he managed to get out, “But I didn’t plan on seeing him today.” 

The other man shrugged, “Maybe he wants to look at some exhibits.” 

“I’ll go see what he wants,” Kei sighed. 

He wasn’t too busy but he knew that an impromptu visit from Shoyou could turn into something much bigger than it needed to be far too quickly, which is why he didn’t tend to meet up with him for lunch or make plans during the day. So Shoyou showing up at the museum at 10 a.m. was something of an anomaly. 

Kei walked out of the back and into the main hall of the museum. His boyfriend was easy to spot in the half empty hall.

“May I help you, sir?” Kei asked with as much fake politeness as he possibly could. 

Shoyou quickly spun around and Kei immediately noticed how guilty he looked, “Kei! What are you doing here?”

“I work here.”

He shook his head, “You don’t work here, here. You work there,” he motioned to a vague back of the museum, “So why are you here?” 

Kei sighed, “I was working but someone walked into my office and told me that my stupid boyfriend was suspiciously skulking around the museum.” 

“Skulking?” He asked, “Nevermind! I’m not suspicious. So many people know me here now.” 

Kei idly wondered if he would get out of this encounter without getting a headache. It seemed more and more unlikely as the seconds ticked by, “Shoyou. What are you doing here?”

Shoyou bit his lower lip, “Do you ever think about getting married?” he asked, seemingly out of nowhere. 

“Do I know you?” He definitely felt a headache coming on. Was this really a ‘show up at his work’ conversation? Couldn’t Shoyou wait until they were home instead of accosting him at his place of employment. No, that would be far too smart.

Shoyou scrunched up his nose, “Don’t be mean to me.”

Kei looked around and wondered the best way to get out of this conversation, keep the peace at his job, and keep the stability of his relationship. He pulled Shoyou to the side so they weren’t standing in front of something that someone might want to look at. 

“What is this about?”

“Answer me,” he crossed his arms. 

Kei wanted to take his glasses off and rub his eyes but didn’t think that Shoyou would appreciate that, “We can’t,” he said instead, “Legally. So now you answer me and tell me what this is about?” 

Shoyou shifted his weight from foot to foot. It was unusual to see him so unsure of himself, “I heard Bokuto talking.”

“Of course,” Kei rolled his eyes. 

“And he and Akaashi are thinking about going abroad and getting married,” he kept going like Kei didn’t interrupt him, “And I thought that sounded really cool because they can’t do it here and then I started thinking and I ended up here.” 

Kei could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he asked, “Are you asking me to marry you?” 

Shoyou turned bright red as he sputtered, “What? No! I was just. You. Argh.” He lightly hit Kei’s chest. 

“Oi, don’t assault the museum staff,” Kei tried to joke but his voice came out shaky.

“What do you think?”

Kei took a deep breath, “Well, I won’t press charges.” 

Shoyou shoved his arm, “About getting married or whatever,” he mumbled. 

It took a long moment for Kei to answer, during which they couldn’t manage to look at each other, but eventually he said, “I suppose you’d want a ring.” 

Shoyou took a sharp breath, “Is that a yes?”

“No. Neither of us has asked anything. And right now I’m asking,” he took Shoyou’s hand and put it over his chest so he could keep how hard Kei’s heart was beating, “if we could please not have this conversation right now.” 

“Alright,” he laughed, breaking the tension they built up, “But later.” 

Kei made a noncommittal noise. 

“I love you,” Shoyou smiled.

Kei turned his back and waved vaguely, “Get out of my museum so I can get back to work.”


	25. "I thought we could go back to whatever the hell we were"

Their third year of high school was almost coming to a close when Kei first brought it up. The timing was absolutely terrible; but with Shoyou pressed against his bed, lips stained red from kissing, Kei couldn’t help but blurt out, “Do you think we should break up?”

Shoyou blinked up at him, trying to cut through the haze of lust his stupid boyfriend just had him in and process his words, “What?”

Kei sat back on Shoyou’s thighs and repeated the question, “Break up,” he said plainly, “Should we?”

Shoyou absolutely did not know what was going on because moments ago there was a lot of kissing happening and now there was whatever this was, “What? Why?” He rubbed at his eyes trying to bring himself out of his stupor, “What are you saying, Kei?”

He opened his mouth to repeat himself a third time and Shoyou must have seen it on his face because he cut him off before he could get the words out again. It wasn’t like he was clarifying himself.

“No, I heard you,” Shoyou said, “I don’t understand. I know I’m stupid, Kei,” he joked, “But you need to explain it to me.”

Kei crossed his arms and looked away, “You’re not that dumb. But you’re going to leave soon and I thought that maybe you’d want to be single while you..” his voice trailed off.

Shoyou stared up at him, “You’re actually breaking up with me,” he said blankly, “Then I’ll leave and never hear from you again. That’s not what I want.”

“I thought we could go back to whatever the hell we were before,” Kei mumbled.

“I don’t want to break up,” he said seriously, taking Kei’s hand, “We weren’t anything before, and I don’t want that again.”

Kei blushed, “Okay.”

* * *

The second time Kei tried to break up with him was when he was abroad. He had been away for a few months and the distance was starting to get to them. It took awhile for them to work out a good schedule for when they could talk but even with a schedule they were constantly getting interrupted by other obligations.

During a long awaited phone call Shoyou was telling Kei that he was finally getting along with his roommate now that they had bonded over a mutual interest in anime. It was something that Kei had very little interest in and he felt his mood darken the more Shoyou spoke about it.

“We should break up and you can date him instead,” Kei snapped, cutting Shoyou off in the middle of his story.

Shoyou paused, slightly stunned, then let out a small sigh, “I love you, Kei,” he said softly, “I’m not going to replace you because you don’t care about One Piece.”

Kei tried to hold back a sniffle, “Yeah, I know.”

* * *

He tried again when Shoyou got a new beach volleyball partner.

“If he’s so good at volleyball why don’t you date him instead.”

Shoyou laughed at him for a long time at that one and when he could finally speak again he managed to get out, “Kei, you’re literally playing on a professional team.”

* * *

After Shoyou got back to Japan and they moved in together Kei tried to break up with him a few more times over the years. It always had something to do with Kei’s insecurities. He thought that Shoyou would be happier with someone else, he thought that he was holding him back, he thought that he wasn’t good enough.

But each time Shoyou smiled and laughed at him and assuaged all of his fears.

* * *

Shoyou tried to break up with Kei once.

Kei had been having a particularly hard time at work and was bringing his stress home with him. After one too many sharp comments Shoyou finally snapped back at him.

“If you’re going to keep treating me like this, I’m going to leave.”

The sheer number of emotions that he saw flit across Kei’s face-- shock, despair, worry, resignation-- made him immediately regret his words.

“Kei, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

He held Kei tight that night.

* * *

Nowadays, though, if Kei threatened to break up with him it was in a joking manner and Shoyou always smiled lazily at him and told Kei that he wouldn’t dare to do anything like that.

He was right.


	26. "Did I just say that?"

Kei was tired. 

He was swamped at work and his neighborhood volleyball team joined a local tournament so they were practicing harder than usual to prepare and while he enjoyed the workout he was being pushed to his limits. He couldn’t remember the last time he was so tired for so long, it had to be back when he was still playing professionally. Was he out of shape? 

By the time he got home he just wanted to collapse on top of Shoyou and go to sleep. Shoyou thought the whole thing was hilarious and was happy to have an extra tactile Kei around the apartment.

If Shoyou was home first he tried to have food made for Kei so he could at least eat before he collapsed, but even if he was home Kei often pulled him away from whatever he was doing so he could lay on top of him on the couch like he was his own personal pillow. 

Shoyou didn’t mind that much, he was comfortable with Kei’s head on his chest and his hands up his shirt, because no matter how much Kei denied it he was the handsier one of the two of them. He liked to run his fingers through Kei’s long hair and feel him relax and quietly talk about his day even if Kei wasn’t listening to him. 

He only squirmed away when he got hungry and Kei would begrudgingly let him go.

Today when Kei got home he pulled Shoyou away from where he was doing the dishes and humming along to the tune in his head and brought him to the couch. Shoyou laughed at the familiar routine, happy that Kei sought and found comfort in him. 

Kei stopped before they reached the couch and looked at Shoyou. He was wearing one of Kei’s t-shirts and a small pair of shorts just peeked out of the bottom. 

“You’re cute,” Kei said, looking him up and down. Shoyou blushed a bit, not expecting the compliment. 

Kei also did not expect the compliment, “Did I just say that?” 

Shoyou laughed, “Aww, Kei thinks I’m cute.”

“Shut up.”

“Do you still want to cuddle?” 

Kei paused for just a second, “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short one today because I wrote a few thousand more words for Changes.


	27. "Tell me a secret"

Shoyou and Kei laid on their bed together as the mid-afternoon light filtered through the large bedroom window. Quiet music played on Kei’s phone, filling the room with sound, but occasionally it took on a tinny quality ruining whatever song they were half-listening to and Shoyou knew it was only a matter of time before Kei started grumbling about needing a new phone. 

He smiled to himself about how predictable his boyfriend was as he lightly played with his fingers. 

They had nowhere to be today which was good because it was unseasonably cold outside and even if it was ten degrees warmer Kei would have complained about being cold, so going outside was out of the question. Kei had no body fat to keep him warm, and he said that because he was so taller his body had to work harder to keep him warm and didn’t do as well as Shoyou’s smaller body, but Shoyou was pretty sure that Kei was lying about that because he just didn’t want to eat more food. 

Regardless, Shoyou was happy to stay within the warmth of their bedroom and laze around with his grumbly boyfriend.

Shoyou tilted his head up to look at Kei, he had his eyes closed but he was silently mouthing the words to the song that was playing. He sighed, he wished Kei would sing, he had a nice voice. 

Kei opened his eyes, “What are you sighing about?” 

“Nothing,” he said quickly. He couldn’t just ask Kei to sing, he had only ever accidentally caught him singing. Shoyou wasn’t even sure if Kei was aware that Shoyou knew he could sing. He held back another sigh as he continued to fiddle with Kei’s fingers, “Tell me a secret.” 

“If I did that then it wouldn’t be a secret,” Kei said, closing his eyes again and getting comfortable.

Shoyou let out a small huff, “Are you keeping secrets from me?” 

Kei hummed like he was thinking something over, “I love you.” 

“That’s not a secret,” he laughed, “Everyone knows that.” 

“No, they don’t,” he shook his head lightly.

Shoyou squeezed his fingers, “What are you talking about? Everyone knows it. I can picture the face you make when someone brings up how much you like me. You look so offended.”

Kei pulled his hand away from his tight grip and shook out his fingers, “You’re just proving my point.” 

“Are you confusing me on purpose?” Shoyou scrunched up his nose, making an offended face even though Kei couldn’t see. 

He tangled his fingers into Shoyou’s hair and dragged him up for a kiss. It was slow and soft, and even though the music playing in the background wasn’t the best make out music, Shoyou wouldn’t have asked for anything else in that moment. 

“Everyone knows that I like you,” he murmured against Shoyou’s waiting lips, “The secret is how much I love you.” 

Shoyou let out a small gasp, “Tell me?” he asked quietly. 

Kei kissed him again.


	28. "Stand behind me"

Sometimes Kei was an absolute jerk.

Sure, he had graciously agreed to walk Shoyou to the gym on his day off (after swiftly turning down an offer to join him), but Shoyou would have told him not to come if he was just going to laugh at him the entire time.

The weather hadn’t been the best lately and Kei was bundled up in basically every jacket he owned in order to keep warm because he ran so cold. In practicality it was only a very heavy jacket over a very thick sweater, but gave him a lot of extra bulk that helped keep his grumbling to a minimum. It didn’t get rid of it completely because Kei was petty and thrived on complaining, but it did lessen it.

Shoyou, on the other hand, ran extremely warm and was constantly on the move. He liked to believe that he was impervious to the cold, because how else could he have remained so close to Kei for so long.

The temperature, though, wasn’t exactly the problem. It was the wind. With Kei’s height and the extra bulk from all his layers, he could withstand the hearty gusts; but Shoyou, no matter how surefooted he was or how much he tried to brace himself, kept stumbling or getting knocked over.

Kei acted like this was the funniest thing he had ever seen.

The first time it happened he cracked a smile, then he stifled a laugh, then he didn’t bother holding back and outright laughed at Shoyou’s plight.

“Don’t laugh at me!” Shoyou yelled, his hair was getting whipped around by the fierce winds because he didn’t bother wearing a hat and it made him look even more ridiculous.

Kei smirked at him, “Sorry, can’t hear you over the wind,” he called back.

Shoyou stuck his tongue out, not caring about how immature he was acting.

The problem with constantly being knocked around by the wind was that it made travel very slow. They both preferred to walk places when possible but today was definitely a car type of day, even if they didn’t like to waste the money.

Kei took out his phone like he was thinking about calling a taxi for the rest of their journey when an idea popped into his head. He turned to his boyfriend who was still struggling and said, “Stand behind me.”

“What?” Shoyou asked suspiciously.

“I can be a buffer between you and the wind. We’re mostly walking into it.”

Shoyou lowered his eyes, “Is this a weird way of calling me short?”

Kei raised a single eyebrow, “When have I ever needed an elaborate scheme to call you short? The faster you get to the gym, the faster I can go back home and be warm.”

Shoyou still didn’t look like he trusted what Kei was saying, but he still stepped behind him. The effect wasn’t immediate but he was being bombarded with less wind. He fisted the back of Kei’s coat and heard him grumble about not knocking them both over but he ignored the remark.

“You know,” Shoyou said conversationally, “You can be kind of nice sometimes.”

“Didn’t your mother teach you not to tell lies?” Kei deadpanned.

Shoyou laughed to himself and let himself be led to the gym.

* * *

“Tsukki!” Bokuto called eagerly when he saw Kei leaning against a wall outside the gym, “Have you seen Shoyou?”

Kei hummed and pretended to examine his nails, “He must have blown away in the wind.”

Bokuto nodded, “It’s brutal today! I’ll tell coach he’ll be late.”

“You do that.” Kei said, trying to hold his straight face while his boyfriend, who he had pinned against the wall with his back, pinched his side as a means of escape.

When Bokuto had turned around Kei glanced over his shoulder and smiled a devious smile, “Better get going Sho, you’re going to be late.”

Shoyou glared up at him, “You’re not nice at all.”

Kei laughed at him again.


	29. "But I don't want to leave."

Kei was a comfort creature. He thrived in his routines and his own space. Any variation to that had an adjustment period. 

In Kei’s first weeks of college he considered dropping out because he wasn’t used to his college schedule. He had to adjust to a different waking time and being around different people and living in a different space. Part of his brain screamed at him to just give up and go back, but with some encouragement he fought through it and succeeded. 

The same thing happened when he first started his job. He had to get used to a new schedule and new people and new workload and he considered quitting and doing something easier but he reminded himself that he wanted to be there, he worked hard to be there. 

And the same thing happened when Shoyou moved in. They both had to get used to living with a significant other, being aware of their needs and desires, being courteous of their space and time. They almost broke up a few times over petty clashes but they agreed to not do anything rash and had a moving-in cooldown period until they both adjusted. 

It wasn’t just big things. Sometimes Kei couldn’t take his usual path to work and he would consider just turning around and going home instead of taking the simple detour.

Sometimes a recipe wouldn’t come out correctly and instead of adding something to adjust the flavor he’d trash the entire thing and refuse to eat. 

Sometimes if Shoyou fell asleep on Kei’s side of the bed and he couldn’t get him to move over, he’d sleep on the couch instead of on Shoyou’s side. 

Shoyou thought he was petty. 

Kei was perfectly fine with that. They both knew that Kei found complaining cathartic. 

The only thing that Shoyou found annoying was when Kei would volunteer for something-- something that already rarely happened-- and would then complain about wanting to back out of it. 

“But I don’t want to leave,” Kei complained as he watched Shoyou zip up his luggage. 

Shoyou sighed, “You’re the one who spent hours working on a paper and then submitted it to the conference!” 

“No, don’t put that there,” he said, stopping Shoyou from putting his toiletries in the wrong compartment, “I didn’t think they’d accept my paper.” 

He threw the bag of toiletries at Kei, “Pack your own bag.”

“Pack your own bag,” he muttered under his breath while putting his things in the correct pocket of the suitcase. 

“Why bother submitting a paper if you didn’t want to go to the conference?” Shoyou asked, flopping himself down on the now vacated bed. 

Kei made a face, “I don’t know. I wanted to see if I could.” 

“And you did,” Shoyou checked his phone for the time, “Now get out of the apartment.” 

Kei pouted, “It’s almost like you’re trying to get rid of me.” 

Shoyou’s bright laughter filled the room, “I love you, now get out of here.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I close this out and start another prompt fic collection for February or keep going here?


	30. "Don't pretend with me"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not an established relationship fic, gasp

Sometimes dating Tsukishima was kind of like pulling teeth. 

Tsukishima was guarded. Even when they were alone he had his defenses up, and if Shoyou made a noticeable effort to get past those defenses, Tsukishima clammed up. It was difficult dating someone who had a hard time opening up to people. 

But the problem was that Shoyou knew he could open up! Because it was Tsukishima who uttered the barely audible words ‘I like you,’ while they were walking to the shop together for an after-practice meat bun. And it was Tsukishima who initiated things like the first time they held hands or their first kiss. 

So Shoyou knew that he wanted to be in the relationship, he didn’t doubt that,but he wished that Tsukishima would just talk to him. About anything. 

In the beginning he was fine with doing most of the talking. He even liked how he pretended not to listen and then would do something to reveal that he had been listening all along, like once he had mentioned that he used to like a certain type of candy when he was younger but they didn’t sell it in stores anymore and Tsukishima bought some online for him. Shoyou knew that he paid attention.

But eventually he noticed how artfully Tsukishima dodged answering questions about himself. 

Even things as benign as ‘what’s your favorite color’ or ‘what’s your favorite season’ he would find a way to avoid answering, and Shoyou was easily swept up in subject changes or kisses so he was easy to distract.

Today was the day though, today he was going to learn something about his boyfriend.

He had a question and he was going to get it answered. It didn’t matter that he already knew the answer because Yamaguchi told him, he was going to get Tsukishima to tell him even if he had to ask multiple times. 

“Tsukki?” he asked when they were safely in Tsukishima’s bedroom. He made a face at the nickname but didn’t say anything about it, and if he didn’t like it all he had to do was tell Shoyou that he could call him Kei and it would be fixed. But he was getting distracted, “What’s your favorite food?” 

Tsukishima looked up from where he was pulling books out of his bag, “What? Why does that matter,” he said flatly, “We have work to get through.”

“I just want to know your favorite food,” he insisted. 

“I’m not hungry,” he said, sounding bored, “You know, if you thought about food less, maybe you’d have more room for school. But knowing you, you would just have more room for volleyball.” 

“Hey!” he reached over and shoved Tsukishima’s arm, “I think about more things than that.” 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, “Name three more things.” 

Shoyou put a finger to his lip in thought, “Um, Natsu, how long until my bike will need repairs, and you.”

Tsukishima ducked his head to hide his blush, “You’ll probably need a new bike next year with how you use it.”

“Really?” he tilted his head, “I thought that-- wait, no! What’s your favorite food, Tsukki?”

“We’re back to that?” he sighed. 

Shoyou frowned at him, “Why are-- how come-- you don’t--,” after several false starts he took a deep breath, “Don’t pretend with me. Why do you pretend that you don’t like things? You already told me that you like me, what can be more embarrassing than that,” he tried to joke.

“Hinata…” he said quietly.

“No, I’m not done,” he said, picking up steam, “You have to talk to me about things. I know you’re not going to talk as much as me but you have to tell me some things! So tell me your favorite food and color and season and answer questions when I ask them!” 

Tsukishima sighed, “Strawberry shortcake, none because I’m not five, and spring.” 

Shoyou blinked at him, “What?” 

“Those are my favorite--”

“You don’t have a favorite color?” 

Tsukishima scoffed, “I’m not a child.” 

Shoyou grinned, “Wait, I have something for you,” he said as he rummaged through his bag in search of a plastic clam shell container. 

With an unnecessary flourish he placed the container in front of Tsukishima. Inside was a mostly smooshed piece of strawberry shortcake that he had bought earlier in the morning and didn’t survive being jostled around in his bag. 

Tsukishima looked between the cake and Shoyou before lowering his eyes, “You knew already.” 

“Yamaguchi told me,” he nodded.

Tsukishima opened the container and took a bite with his fingers, “Passable.” 

Shoyou waited for him to get a fork and held his chin in his hands while he watched his boyfriend eat his favorite food, “Does this mean I get to call you Kei now?” 

Watching him turn as red as the strawberry he was saving as last made the whole thing worth it.


	31. "I saw you. Right there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're third-years in this one

Shoyou was sure that Kei was secretly practicing without telling the rest of them. 

Now that Tadashi was captain he often stayed late after practice to talk to Coach Ukai or go over how the team was doing. And Shoyou still stayed behind to practice with Kageyama, leaving Kei to walk home alone.

But every few days Kei would come into practice with a small injury that he didn’t have when he left the night before, or he moved slightly differently. Shoyou spent so much time watching him trying to figure out just what had changed or what Kei could be doing that Kageyama yelled at him to stop staring at his boyfriend and start paying attention. 

Kei, of course, simply smirked at him and said, “Like what you see?” which made him blush a bright red and made Kageyama complain about them flirting during practice. In his defense, it was all Kei’s fault. 

He did try and ask Kei if he was doing extra training on the side but he got an infuriating non-answer of “Don’t worry about it,” which he was pretty sure meant that he was doing something extra but didn’t want to talk about it. 

So Shoyou had a plan. 

After practice he would kiss Kei goodbye and pretend that he was doing his normal extra practice but then he would secretly follow his sneaky boyfriend and see what he was getting up to. The plan was foolproof, and it needed to be, because, as Kei liked to remind him, he could be a bit of a fool. 

He followed about half a block behind Kei, ducking behind hedges and telephone poles like he was some sort of spy on a top secret mission. At first Shoyou worried that Kei was really going home but at the last second he took a wrong turn and started heading in an unknown direction. Shoyou started getting excited.

Kei led him to a neighborhood gym. It was open to the public and people of all skill levels and ages went there to play or exercise. Shoyou hung back and watched where Kei went and after a small amount of time, found a window to peek through so he could watch what his boyfriend thought he couldn’t practice in front of his team. 

The gym was larger than Karasuno’s gym and housed a full sized volleyball net and basketball court. There were a few boys playing basketball but Kei was the only one on the volleyball court. Next to him was a small cart, maybe holding five balls total.

Shoyou watched as Kei ran through some quick stretches, he was still mostly warmed up from their earlier practice and the walk over but it made Shoyou happy that he was taking care of himself like that. And then he watched as Kei readied himself to serve. But he wasn’t doing his usual routine.

He watched with wide eyes as Kei did a jump serve. The ball just made it over the net and it wasn’t the most powerful serve he had seen, but it was a successful jump serve nonetheless.

Inadvertently he let out a loud half-shocked, half-pleased noise at his boyfriend’s abilities. Then he ducked under the window in fear of being caught.

A few moments later his phone rang and his heart sank. 

“Kei!” he answered, “Uh, hi!” 

“Hey, Sho,” he said smoothly, “What are you up to?”

Shoyou looked around nervously, “Nothing?” 

Kei clicked his tongue, “Are you sure you’re not at the neighborhood gym?” 

“No!” he said too quickly, ‘Why would I be there?” 

“I saw you,” Kei knocked on the window right above his head, “Right there.”

They both hung up their phones.

They each walked around to the entrance so they could talk face-to-face, but before Kei could open his mouth to scold Shoyou for following him, Shoyou jumped him and held him in a tight hug, “Kei, that was amazing! I didn’t know you could do a jump serve! Is that what you’ve been working on? Why haven’t you shown the team?” 

Kei blushed at his enthusiasm, “It’s not worth showing yet.” 

“Kei,” he scolded lightly, “If you show everyone then you can practice during official practice and get better at it.”

“I’ll think about it,” he grumbled. 

Shoyou smiled up at him, “Will you show me again?”

“No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (No, he says, before going inside and doing it again and again, because who doesn't want to be praised by Hinata)


	32. “I-I just wanted to say that I uh, I missed you.”

Kei wasn’t used to the heat of Rio. Sweat started trickling down the back of his neck almost as soon as he stepped out of the airplane. 

He could almost hear Shoyou calling him a baby. Kei was always sensitive to extreme temperatures (and so what if his definition of extreme temperature varied wildly from Shoyou’s). But Kei couldn’t handle the cold weather of winter or the heat of summer, so why he decided to make his surprise visit during the height of Rio’s summer was beyond him. 

He had bundled up for the plane ride, wearing long pants and a hoodie to protect him from the plane’s blasting air conditioning, and while it was easy to remove the sweatshirt the second he could step out of the foot traffic, he almost wished he had suffered through wearing shorts on the plane. 

But Kei was nothing if not over prepared so he quickly scanned the signs overhead for any symbol that could mean bathroom and headed to where he could get changed. He wasn’t staying in Brazil for long so he was only traveling with a duffel bag, meaning he could change into shorts right in the airport. 

Once he was changed, and he mentally cursed at his boyfriend for choosing a place where he would constantly be sweaty, he made his way towards the exit and the waiting taxis. 

Even though Kei had helped Shoyou learn basic Portuguese back in Japan, he didn’t trust his own accent or skills around native speakers, so he showed the driver the neatly printed address of where he wanted to go, Shoyou’s apartment, and smiled politely. 

The driver said something back in rapid Portuguese and at Kei’s blank look repeated himself both slower and louder. The second time around Kei recognised a number and Kei assumed it was a price. He nodded and hoped he knew what he was agreeing to.

The drive to Shoyou’s apartment wasn’t that long but it was long enough for anxiety to settle in Kei’s stomach. Shoyou didn’t know he was coming. What if he wasn’t happy to see him? And by now he was probably concerned that Kei had responded to any of his messages, but unless Kei connected to a public Wi-Fi signal his phone was going to be useless. 

He fiddled with his phone anyway and tried to tell himself that Shoyou was going to be happy to see him. 

When they arrived he recognized the small building from the pictures Shoyou had sent him. He paid the driver but didn’t head up the stairs. It was late afternoon and while Shoyou’s roommate would most likely be home, he would be at the beach.

Kei knew the way and knew the spots where his boyfriend liked to play and congregate the most because Shoyou had taken him on virtual tours once he got the lay of the land. 

The beach itself was beautiful. Much more beautiful than could accurately be portrayed through a screen. Kei slipped off his shoes and socks once he hit the sand and he scanned the area for Shoyou. 

His bright orange hair was easy to spot on the beach volleyball courts. Kei hung back and watched the new way he moved, took in the new muscles he packed on, saw how sweat glistened down his arms, listened to him laugh and talk loudly in a language he mostly didn’t understand. It was weird watching Shoyou participate in a life that he didn’t have a place in, but at the same time he was proud. 

When it was Shoyou’s turn to serve, Kei snuck closer.

Shoyou tossed the ball up. 

“Shoyou, nice serve,” Kei called out in Japanese. 

The ball hit the sand. 

The three other people on the court playfully jeered at Shoyou but Kei couldn’t understand what they were saying, even if he could understand more Portuguese, his focus was solely on Shoyou who had immediately whipped around at the sound of his voice.

“Kei…” he said quietly. He turned back to the people who he was playing with and bowed deeply, “I’m sorry, I need to leave.” 

Before they could respond he ran off the court and launched himself at Kei, sending them flying back into the sand, “Kei!” he said again, “What are you doing here!” 

Kei looked up at his beaming face and mentally scolded his past self who thought that Shoyou wouldn’t be happy to see him, “I-I just wanted,” he stuttered, “That is to say that I, uh, I missed you. So I came here. My semester is over.” It was the least eloquent thing he had ever said but Shoyou didn’t care at all. 

Shoyou licked his lips and leaned down for a quick but burning kiss, “How long are you here for?” 

Kei groaned softly, “Only four days. It was the best I could do.” 

He nodded once, pulled himself off of Kei, and offered him a hand to get out of the sand, “Okay, let’s go.”

As Shoyou dragged him back to his apartment, he silently promised not to complain about it being too hot.


	33. "I'm not lying."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a sequel to ch. 15 "you lied to me"   
> (the one with a cactus)

“What are you doing?” 

Kei looked up from where he was stretched out on the couch with a large bowl of baby carrots resting on his stomach, “Eating carrots.”

Shoyou reached over the back of the couch to try and take one but Kei swatted at his hand, “Why?” 

“Because carrots help with your vision and if I eat enough of them I won’t need glasses anymore,” Kei said with a straight face before taking another bite. 

Shoyou lowered his eyes, “I don’t believe you.”

Kei sat up and placed the bowl in his lap, “I’m not lying. Why would I lie about something like that.”

“You’ve lied to me before,” Shoyou crossed his arms petulantly, decidedly not looking at the windowsill full of pointy succulents that Kei liked to buy to taunt him about the one time he tried to pet a cactus based on a many years old lie. 

“That was years ago,” Kei rolled his eyes, “My mother didn’t eat enough carrots when she was pregnant with me so my eyes aren’t great. Your mom probably ate a lot so your eyesight is very sharp,” Kei brought a finger to his lips like he was deep in thought, “Maybe it explains your hair colors too.” 

Shoyou squawked, “Now I know you’re lying to me.”

Kei shook his head, “My mother craved lemons when she was pregnant with me. Explains my sour personality doesn’t it? You can call her and ask if you think I’m still lying to you,” he said innocently. 

“I’m going to!” he yelled unnecessarily loud. 

Shoyou dug out his phone and sat down next to Kei as he found the correct contact so they could both hear the conversation. 

“Shoyou,” she said warmly, “How are you.” 

“I’m good!” he replied cheerfully, “But Kei was saying weird things so I wanted to ask you. Did you really eat lemons when you were pregnant?” 

She laughed good naturedly, “I did! I peeled them and ate them like oranges. My husband thought it was the weirdest thing but I thought they were so delicious.”

Shoyou turned to Kei with his mouth ajar. Kei smiled smugly at him. 

“Thank you for answering,” he said politely. 

“Are you two still coming for dinner next week?” she asked, still chuckling slightly. 

Shoyou nodded as he told her yes and glared at Kei as he said his goodbyes. 

Kei crunched on another carrot. 

“I still don’t believe you about the carrots!” he said loudly as he dialed his own mother, “I’ll just ask my mom.” 

He crossed his arms grumpily and waited for her to pick up.

“Shoyou? Is everything okay?”

“Oh, no, everything is fine,” he waved a hand around even though she couldn’t see it, “I just wanted to ask what you ate while you were pregnant.”

His mother gasped loudly on the other end, “Are you and Kei going to have a baby?” 

Kei choked on the carrot he was eating. 

“Mom,” Shoyou said lowly, “You know Kei and I can’t have a baby, right?” 

“You could adopt or use a surrogate,” she said airily. 

Kei put a hand on Shoyou’s thigh and whispered, “I lied about the carrots.” 

Shoyou grinned at him, “So if we have a baby do you think we’d do better with a boy or a girl?” he asked his mother, relishing in the look of horror that crossed Kei’s face. 

“A girl, of course,” his mother answered without missing a beat, “That boy of yours would spoil her rotten.” 

Kei placed the bowl of carrots into Shoyou’s lap and left the room with his hands over his ears. He absolutely was not hearing any of this.


	34. "You look… okay. I mean."

People didn’t usually visit them because Kei acted like a crotchety old man and Shoyou’s schedule was erratic enough that no one could simply drop by to see him. So when they heard their doorbell ring on Saturday evening, they almost didn’t know what to do about it. 

Kei, at least, knew what the noise was. Shoyou was surprised to learn they even had a doorbell let alone a functional one.

Kei sighed, “I’ll get it.” 

“I can get it,” Shoyou said while sitting up. 

“No,” Kei said, pushing him back down to the bed and kissing him deeply, “Stay here.” He ran his hand up and down Shoyou’s bare side and listened to his breath shorten into pants. He was going to lean down and kiss him again but the shrill sound of the doorbell rang throughout the apartment again. 

Kei gave Shoyou a heated look and stood up, leaving his partner on the bed, “I’m coming, I’m coming,” he said annoyed.

“I’m not,” Shoyou grumbled as he watched Kei quickly dress in whatever clothes he picked up first. 

Shoyou laid there for only a moment before groaning and sitting up. He didn’t know how long Kei was going to take and he didn’t know what he was supposed to do to wait. He wished Kei gave him more directions than just staying here. He just wanted to sleep with his boyfriend while they had the time. Was that too much to ask? 

While Shoyou was thinking about all the things they could be doing, Kei returned.

“It was our neighbor,” he said, rolling his eyes, “She wanted to know if we’ve seen her cat. Pets aren’t even allowed in this building.”

Shoyou stared at him.

“What?” 

He swallowed hard, “Did you answer the door like that?” 

Kei looked down at himself and smirked, “Why? Do you like it?” he climbed back on the bed and straddled Shoyou’s lap, “Do you?” 

Shoyou put his hands on Kei’s hips, “You look… okay. I mean,” he worried his lower lip between his teeth, “wow.” 

In his hurry Kei had put on a pair of his own shorts, but they were ones that Shoyou had accidentally shrunk in the wash and were much too short, and one of Shoyou’s t-shirt merchandise jerseys with ‘Hinata’ stretched across the back. 

Kei leaned forward and brushed his lips against Shoyou’s, “Tell me,” he whispered.

“I think I understand why you tell me I’m teasing you when I wear your jersey,” he breathed out. 

He chuckled deep in his chest, “Do you want me to wear your real jersey? This was bought in a shop.”

Shoyou reached up and held Kei’s face in his hands, “I think I’ll die.”


	35. "I knew I'd find you here"

Shoyou was playing in a charity match sponsored by the league and even though he had recently passed a medical check up, the people organizing the event wanted the players to be checked one more time. Kei rolled his eyes when Shoyou told him, the league didn’t want to be responsible if they got hurt playing an out of season game.

But the two of them went down to the stadium so Shoyou could be checked over by a doctor or physical trainer, he was low on details and every time Kei asked Shoyou scrunched up his face as he tried to remember just what was happening today.

Kei was easily allowed into the stadium, the regular staff recognized him and while he was accompanied by Shoyou there was no reason to stop him. The problem started when he tried to go deeper inside the stadium where the examinations were being held. The people charged with taking Shoyou’s vitals recognized him as their patient, they did not know Kei.

Shoyou smiled politely at one of the nurses, “Can he come back with me?”

The nurse blushed and nodded as she quickly directed Shoyou to where he should go next. Kei tsked at the interaction.

He was told to go into one of the back offices that was cordoned off so people walking by wouldn’t see anyone in a state of undress. After a few minutes of idly waiting a different nurse bustled into the room.

“Hinata, my favorite patient!” she said brightly.

Shoyou perked up when he saw her, “Hi! It’s been a while! I didn’t know you still worked here.”

She laughed a touch too loud, “I was away for a bit but now I’m back. And what are these,” she reached over and took the glasses that were sitting on Shoyou’s face. They were new, Kei had grumbled that his prescription was so small he barely needed them, but he did look good with them. The nurse’s smile turned flirty, “Did you need something to better check me out?”

Shoyou laughed and Kei felt like he had been forgotten. He cleared his throat and Shoyou turned to him with a bright smile, “I forgot that I needed to do something today,” he said blankly, “I’ll see you later.”

He considered kissing the top of his head, a small act of possessiveness, but instead he simply walked out.

* * *

“I knew I’d find you here!” Shoyou yelled as he burst through the bakery door.

Kei guilty paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, at least there was no way for Shoyou to know that this was his second piece of cake, “You found me,” he waved his fork in a small circle.

Shoyou quickly crossed the small bakery and sat down across from him, “Why did you leave me there?” he asked, cutting right to the chase.

“I don’t need to sit and see you flirt with people, or see people flirt with you,” Kei said sharply.

“What?” Shoyou’s mouth hung open. He looked stupid and Kei bit back a small laugh.

He stabbed his cake with the fork, “You have a way with nurses.”

“They’re nice people!” he defended, “And people flirt with you all the time and I don’t care.”

Kei scoffed, “People don’t flirt with me.”

Shoyou rolled his eyes, “Do you remember last week at the grocery store? That woman asked you to reach something for her? Did you notice that she was taller than me and could get it by herself or that after you got it she touched your arm and then tried to talk to you for like five minutes. She was flirting.”

“That doesn’t count, I’m not interested in women.”

Shoyou reached over and tried to take some of Kei’s cake with his fingers but was batted away, “Fine. A few weeks ago you took me to the museum so you could show me the exhibit that you’d been working so hard on, and some guy heard that you did all that and you talked to him about it for twenty minutes. He was flirting too. Why do you think I dragged you home after and we--” he cut himself off and blushed.

Kei grinned predatorily, “Oh, were you jealous?”

“Don’t do that! You were just jealous.”

“I like knowing that you get jealous,” Kei rested his chin in his palm and pushed the plate across the table so Shoyou could finish the rest of it, “I also like knowing that in the end you come home with me.”

Shoyou smiled around a too large bite of shortcake. He looked ridiculous, but Kei loved it.


	36. "You still remember?"

Shoyou was used to waking up naturally. His body always woke him up during the hours of the morning Kei liked to call unholy. He had to wake up early back in his Karasuno days if he wanted to eat breakfast and get to school on time and he grew to like the early morning hours before most people were awake. 

Even on the rare days where he slept in he was awake before Kei who preferred to stay in bed as much as he possibly could. He could be incredibly lazy for someone who was also a perfectionist that liked to overload his schedule with work and studies and sports. 

So it came as a surprise to Shoyou when he was woken up by gentle kisses. (It was doubly surprising because not only was Kei up before him, but the one time Shoyou tried to initiate anything this early Kei had threatened to divorce him. They weren’t married but the threat still stood.)

He tried to pretend to be asleep to see where his boyfriend was going with this, but Kei could always see right through him. 

“I know you’re awake,” he mumbled against Shoyou’s lips. 

Shoyou peeked an eye open, “why are you awake?” He asked carefully, “are you finally going to kill me?”

“I wouldn’t wake you for that,” he said casually. 

“Then why? It’s early?”

Kei sighed and laid his head on Shoyou’s chest, “do you know what today is?”

Shoyou wracked his brain, “Tuesday?” He answered dumbly even though he knew that wasn’t the answer Kei was looking for. 

Kei let out a small exhale of a laugh, “Do you know what's important about this Tuesday?” 

“No,” he said immediately. He had the day they started dating and the day they moved into their apartment programmed into his phone and they would both give him an alert a few days before so he could get an appropriate gift. They didn’t do big things on anniversaries but he liked to see the soft smile Kei gave him when he was surprised by a gift. 

“We met on this day,” Kei said quietly, and Shoyou could feel him falling back asleep on top of him because it really was too early for him. 

Shoyou ran his fingers through Kei’s hair, “You still remember? We’ve never celebrated that before.”

Kei hummed, “Hibiki from work was talking about her kids going back to school so I looked at a calendar and figured out the date we met.”

“You’re secretly sentimental, aren’t you.”

“That’s a big word. Do you even know what it means?” 

Shoyou pulled his hair. “You were an asshole when we met.” 

Kei hummed again, “I’m still an asshole.” 

Shoyou laughed and Kei pinched his side because the movement and sound were too much for so early in the morning, “Nah,” he said, voice full of affection, “An asshole wouldn’t figure out the day we met then wake up extra early to tell me.” 

Kei rolled off of Shoyou and buried his face in his pillow, “I just looked at calendars.”

“Look at you,” Shoyou sighed, “Putting in effort. Fifteen year old Kei would hate it.”

“True,” Kei said into his pillow before glancing over his shoulder at his partner, “But he figured it out eventually.”


	37. "You left"

Shoyou had a lot of friends. He had some bizarre superpower where he could make friends with whoever he spoke to. Kei knew firsthand that Shoyou was overflowing with charisma, it was how he won over people like Kenma or Aone or himself. But it was exhausting to watch him in action. 

The problem with Shoyou’s charisma, Kei thought, was that it was entirely genuine. Shoyou truly wanted to hear about how the woman who worked at the grocery store’s dog was doing after it’s surgery, which he knew about because months prior they had spoken at length about some kind of fruit tree she had in her backyard. And the only reason Kei didn’t know what kind of fruit tree she had was because multiple people gave them fresh fruit from their garden because they liked Shoyou so much. 

Sometime Shoyou came home telling him about how his personal trainer’s daughter was finally dating that boy she liked, or she wasn’t dating him any more, or she was again. It was an ongoing saga and he got regular updates. (Kei was secretly invested in this one because everyone involved sounded like a terrible person and he thought it was hysterical, Shoyou thought he was mean.)

The worst was when people tried to set Shoyou up with someone. It seemed like every old lady he befriended had a granddaughter they would love him to meet, or every other athlete he spoke to had a friend, or some random person he was chatting with on the checkout line wanted his number. 

Shoyou always laughed nervously and politely declined. Then, if they pushed, whoever asked would get a lecture on how wonderful his boyfriend was. Kei alternated between finding these interactions embarrassing and infuriating. 

Kei tended to see the signs coming long before Shoyou did. Shoyou saw the best in people, he had to if he was going to date Kei, and was always blindsided when someone asked him out. But Kei noticed the body language, how they would try to reach out and touch him, or they would laugh at something that was objectively not funny. 

After so many years Kei knew that dealing with that was part of dating Shoyou. People were always going to be attracted to his personality, he would always have fans and those who orbit around him. But if Shoyou was the sun then Kei was Mercury, name be damned, and he would be his closest and most frequent orbiter. 

But that didn’t mean he had to watch the other planets. People. His metaphor had gotten away from him. 

Once again Shoyou was chatting with one of the women who worked out the checkout counter of their local grocery store. She was young, in high school probably, and he was talking to her about her studies. Kei rolled his eyes when he saw her blush lightly and packed up their food, Shoyou absentmindedly handed over money, and Kei left without him. 

Kei had left him to talk with strangers before, but this time he at least had a good excuse. The store was finally stocking his favorite brand of ice cream again and he wasn’t going to let it melt while Shoyou listened to some girl he didn’t know talk about how she liked math more than science. And if that made him a bad boyfriend, he could deal with that. 

“You left!” Shoyou said as he burst into their apartment.

Kei was just finishing up a bowl of ice cream, a pre-dinner snack that Shoyou was sure to scold him for later but for now he didn’t care, “Yup, I’m surprised you noticed so quickly.”

“You left me!” he said again. 

“Yup,” he agreed before licking his spoon clean. 

Shoyou frowned at him, or at the bowl of ice cream, it was unclear, “Why?” 

Kei scraped the bowl with his spoon trying to get every last drop, “I don’t need to watch high school girls flirt with you.”

“Aww,” Shoyou teased, “you were jealous.”

“Not jealous,” he held up his bowl, “Just hungry.”


	38. "I like your new place"

Communication was not always their strongest point. Kei kept his thoughts and feelings close to his chest and Shoyou could spend so much time talking that he’d forget to say anything that was actually important. Most of their arguments were about breakdowns in communications, about how Kei didn’t share or how Shoyou assumed he had told Kei about something but didn’t. 

There were a lot of things that between them that didn’t have to be said, Kei rarely voiced how he felt, preferring to show it through his day to day actions. And Shoyou radiated with pride for his boyfriend who would shy away from any compliment. They didn’t have to talk about how they felt for each other, they just knew. 

But if Kei was withdrawing or Shoyou was taking steps towards his future, they struggled to use their words and figure out how to move forward together. Shoyou couldn’t remember how many times he had yelled “just talk to me!” at his stubborn partner. 

Getting their apartment was an adventure in miscommunication. 

Shoyou had just returned from abroad and was essentially couch surfing when Kei mentioned that he was looking for a new apartment. Shoyou was happy to help him look at apartments when he was around, and enjoyed laughing at him when Kei tried to fit through doorways or in showers of shoebox apartments. But Kei failed to mention that they were searching for somewhere for both of them to live together. 

After a few months of looking at mediocre place after mediocre place, they finally found somewhere nice. It wasn’t too cramped, it was relatively affordable. Kei was done being dragged around the city and decided that this was it.

“I like your new place,” Shoyou said appreciatively after Kei let them in with his new set of keys.

He paused in the doorway, “What?”

“Your apartment?” Shoyou asked, confused, “I like it?” He tilted his head a bit, he didn’t say anything weird. 

Kei shook his head, “You’re not going to move in with me?” 

“Huh?”

“We picked it out together,” he moved his arms in a sweeping motion, “It’s ours,” he said like it was obvious and Shoyou should have known the whole time. 

Shoyou swatted at his chest, “You never asked me to move in with you!” 

“Oh,” he looked towards the ceiling and thought about it for a second, it was entirely possible he thought about asking him and forgot to do it, “I thought it was implied. Why else would I make you look at so many apartments with me?” 

“Well it wasn’t implied!” Shoyou yelled, “And you’re lazy and complained about doing it the whole time, so I had to come along.” 

Kei ignored the complete slander of his character, “Well, do you want to move in with me?” 

Shoyou smiled and looked around the room like he was seeing it for the first time, “Yes, you big idiot.”


	39. "Do you know any jokes?"

**Sho** : do you know any jokes?

 **Kei** : I’m at work, Shoyou.

 **Sho** : yea but do you know any jokes?

 **Kei** : I’m. At. Work. Shoyou.

 **Sho** : but im bored

 **Kei** : Go entertain yourself.

 **Sho** : im trying  
 **Sho** : by asking if you know any jokes

 **Kei** : You wanted to hear a joke.  
 **Kei** : So you thought  
 **Kei** : You know who the funniest person I know is  
 **Kei** : Kei.

 **Sho** : ya

 **Kei** : I hate you.  
 **Kei** : So much.

 **Sho** : nah  
 **Sho** : so are you not gonna tell me a joke

 **Kei** : When have I ever  
 **Kei** : I mean ever  
 **Kei** : told you a joke?

 **Sho** : sometimes you get drunk

 **Kei** : I’m. At. Work!

 **Sho** : i usually dont understand your jokes

 **Kei** : ...this is a joke right  
 **Kei** : You’re fucking with me?  
 **Kei** : You didn’t want me to tell you a joke.  
 **Kei** : This is already the entertainment you wanted.  
 **Kei** : I hate you so much.

 **Sho** : love you 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a semi-secret Tsukki/Hinata/Kenma fic I've been working on so I've been thinking about social media and texting lol


	40. "Are you hungry?"

Shoyou was someone who was constantly eating. He burned a lot of energy throughout the day so he needed the fuel that’s food provided him, so he ate large meals and snacked often. Kei once posited that the reason he woke up so early was because he needed to eat. 

He had never been in a position where his next meal wasn’t close by or he couldn’t stop for a snack break, or he hadn’t until he and Kei took a road trip. 

Shoyou didn’t drive so all of the driving duties fell to Kei, and Kei was uncomfortable behind the wheel so he had some fairly strict rules they had to follow while they were on the road to compensate. One was no food in the car. It was Akiteru’s car and he wasn’t going to return it dirty. Kei also didn’t believe in stopping frequently so unless the car needed more fuel they’d be on the road until they reached their destination. 

“Can you turn down the music?” Kei asked about two hours into their journey. Shoyou didn’t answer, “I can see that you’re not asleep. Are you ignoring me?”

“You’re such an asshole,” Shoyou snapped. 

Kei glanced at him surprised before turning back to the road, “True, what did I do?”

Shoyou crossed his arms and slumped in his seat, “Why should I bother telling you, it’s not like you’re going to change or anything.”

“I’ve changed a lot over the years,” his grip tightened on the steering wheel. 

“Whatever,” Shoyou turned to look out the window and ended the conversation. 

Kei turned the music down himself. 

Two hours later Kei heard Shoyou sniffling, “Are you okay?” He asked tentatively. 

Shoyou burst into tears, “I’m sorry I ignored you and said you never changed. I know you care about me and I was being mean,” he wiped at his face with the back of his hands but tears kept coming. 

Kei kept glancing between his partner and the road, “What's going on Sho? First you’re yelling at me and now you’re crying.”

“I don’t know!” Another round of tears welled up in his eyes. 

“Shoyou,” Kei said seriously, “Are you hungry?”

His stomach chose then to growl loudly. 

Kei rolled his eyes and pulled off at the next exit so they could find a restaurant, “Idiot. If you needed food that badly you should have said something.”

Shoyou sniffed and rubbed his eyes again, “Kei, I need to eat.”


	41. "You have pretty hands"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small little thing for Valentine's Day :)

Kei ran his hands up and down Shoyou’s bare back, from the top of his neck to where the sheets pooled around his waist. Shoyou hummed in appreciation at each pass, enjoying the feeling of his nails scraping down his back or the flat of his palm.

“I love you,” Shoyou sighed. With Kei’s hand moving like that he could easily be lulled to sleep.

Kei flicked his back, “You just like being pet. You’re like a cat.” 

Shoyou stretched his arms out over his head and Kei didn’t even pretend that he wasn’t admiring his toned back as his muscles tensed and relaxed, “It’s your fault. You have pretty hands.” 

“You don’t usually lie to me,” Kei said casually as he took his hand off Shoyou’s back to examine it, “What’s so nice about them?” 

Shoyou grabbed Kei’s hand and brought it to his face to cup his own cheek and nuzzle at his palm, “‘s pretty, I don’t need a reason.” 

Kei scoffed, “I have a scar from blocking Ushijima years ago and my knuckles are constantly swollen from how battered they get.”

“Yeah,” he sighed happily before placing a kiss on his palm, “I like that.”

“You’re such a volleyball freak,” Kei said, his words laced with affection. 

Shoyou turned so he could smile up at him, “But I’m your volleyball freak.”


	42. "I guess I just wanted to know if you missed me"

“I guess I just wanted to know if you missed me,” Kei mumbled into the phone. Shoyou had been gone for over a year now and Kei felt like he was the only one who missed him. Every time they spoke Shoyou sounded so happy to be away. It was disheartening. 

Shoyou laughed. It was low and deep and pulled at Kei’s chest, “Do you know,” he said softly, “That most of the people on the beach think my name is Tsukishima?”

“Huh?” 

“Yeah,” he chuckled again, “I have like four of your jerseys and wear them all the time.” 

Kei felt his cheeks go hot and he was happy this was only a voice call, “Oh. That’s, um, nice.” 

Shoyou sighed, “They can’t pronounce your name very well.” Kei still hadn’t recovered from the thought of people calling Shoyou by his name, “Kei? Are you still there?” 

“Yeah,” he said suddenly, “Do you correct them?” 

“Sometimes,” he hummed, “The first time someone called me Tsukishima I dropped everything I was holding. I thought you came to visit me, but then I remembered that no one there would know your name.” 

Kei was silent for a moment, “You have four of my jerseys? I only sent you one.” 

Shoyou laughed nervously, “I bought three more.” 

“Shoyou,” he scolded, “Why? The shipping must have cost more than the shirt.” 

“It did,” he said warmly, “But I wanted more things with your name on it.” 

Kei took a deep breath, he couldn’t believe he was about to say this, “If you want some of my things, I can send you a care package.” 

He could hear Shoyou sit up suddenly on the other end of the phone, “Yes. Yes, send me something. Are you taking requests?”

“No.”

“I want the old Jurassic Park shirt you swear you don’t wear and the purple sweatshirt with the star.”

Kei bit down a distressed noise, “That’s my favorite sweatshirt, why would I just send it to you when you’re somewhere obnoxiously hot?” 

Shoyou lowered his voice again, “Because you love me and I miss you.” 

“Whatever,” he mumbled, once again happy his faraway boyfriend couldn’t see his cheeks flush.


	43. "I'm not supposed to be here"

All Kei could think about was coffee. He wanted coffee. No, he needed coffee.

He had gotten to the museum early because of an ever approaching deadline that he needed to meet (“or else” his supervisor had said ominously) but even after hours of work, and hours of extra work, he didn’t feel like he had made that much progress. Which was why he needed an extra pick me up.

He tried not to think about how much coffee he had consumed already today or how much of it he was going to later, all that mattered was the warm mug in his hand right now and the soothing rush of caffeine. He should probably get some food to go along with this, he thought idly, but he had no idea what time it was-- a hazard of working in the windowless backrooms of the museum-- and at this point he was too afraid to go look, so the mug alone would have to do.

Kei sighed into the drink and began the walk back to the office, ready to greet the literal mountain of paperwork at his desk that he still had to sift through.

He wasn’t prepared to see tufts of orange peeking out from behind said paperwork.

“You’re in my chair,” he said blankly.

Shoyou hung off the armrest so he could look around the papers, “I’m not supposed to be here.”

Kei took a long, slow sip of his coffee for some mental reinforcement, “I know that. This is my office. How’d you get back here anyway?”

“Funny story,” he laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, “I was--”

He put up a hand to stop him, “I don’t really care right now, I’m busy. Good to see you, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Shoyou frowned at him, “Tomorrow? You’re not planning on coming home tonight?”

“Do you see all of this?” he motioned to the papers on his desk, “They're not going to get through themselves, and I need to get it done as soon as possible.”

Shoyou tapped his chin and Kei sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that he wasn’t about to say something stupid that would spark a while conversation, he simply didn’t have the time, “Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked instead.

A small amount of tension seeped from Kei’s shoulders, “No, you wouldn’t understand any of it and I would get in big trouble if you touched anything,” he paused and looked away, “seeing you today was nice though.”

* * *

A few hours later Shoyou returned with dinner.

“How do you keep getting back here?” Kei asked suspiciously.

Shoyou grinned, “You said you don’t care, so I’m not telling.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you didn't miss me too much :) 
> 
> my laptop battery died and my computer was so old it wasn't worth replacing so I bought a new computer. going two days without writing is the most I've done in months and it felt real bad... so now I'm just adjusting to using a different keyboard and I lost all my bookmarks... but I should be back to my normal pace!


	44. "All I needed was my friend"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop, not an established relationship fic this time. Takes place some time in high school.  
> And with this, I've updated three things today, so that's nice :)

“Where have you been?” Shoyou slammed open the door to Tsukishima’s room, letting himself in with a literal bang. 

Tsukishima stopped typing and looked up from his phone, “Right here,” he said, sounding bored, like he didn’t care at all what Shoyou was going through. When Shoyou didn’t make a move to further enter the room, he went back to tapping at his phone. 

Shoyou balled his hands into fists, “Why are you acting like this?” he practically yelled.

He sighed and put his phone down, “Acting like what?” 

He could feel his eyes filling with tears but he wouldn’t let them fall, if he did then Tsukishima would know just how much he was getting to him, and Shoyou didn’t want that to happen, lest it be used against him later, “Why don’t you care?” 

Tsukishima pushed his glasses up his forehead and rubbed his eyes, “Just tell me what this is about already so we can stop asking questions back and forth.” 

Shoyou walked across the room and sat himself in Tsukishima’s lap, their relationship was new, after a year of dancing around each other, so the action made him nervous. But Tsukishima placed a hand on his hip and Shoyou knew that he was okay, “You got up and walked out when I started talking about--”

He leaned over and kissed him, “Shut up. I walked out because I don’t want to hear about how happy you are to leave.”

“I just,” Shoyou frowned at him, “All I needed was my friend to be happy for me,”

“You made two mistake,” Tsukishima kissed him quickly again, leaving Shoyou blushing, “I’m not your friend and I’m not happy for you.”

Shoyou shoved his arm, “Kei! At least pretend!” 

Tsukishima schooled his expression into the most bored look possible, “Oh, wow, tell me more about your plans to leave me,” he said blankly. 

“I’m not leaving you on purpose,” he leaned on Tsukishima’s chest and listened to his heart beat, “But I need to go.”

“Yeah,” Tsukishima sighed, “I know.”


	45. "Just be cool"

The two of them were quietly enjoying each other’s company at an outdoor cafe, Kei doing some work on his laptop and Shoyou rewatching his last match on his tablet, when they heard a whisper from a nearby table. 

“I think that’s Hinata Shoyou,” the voice said. 

Shoyou picked his head up at the sound of his name. Kei inwardly groaned, he didn’t want to deal with any fans while they were trying to have a peaceful afternoon. He knew they should have stayed home. 

“It is him! Just be cool,” the guy said to his companion who seemed as unimpressed as Kei by his display of fanaticism. 

Kei hoped that would be the end of it, that the guy would-in his own words- just be cool and leave them alone, but he wasn’t that lucky. He approached their table and brought his seemingly unwilling girlfriend along with him. 

The guy approached nervously but Shoyou smiled up at him, “Hello,” he said politely. 

“You’re Hinata Shoyou!” he blurted out. 

Shoyou laughed, “I am.”

The guy raved about how cool Shoyou was and spouted off memorized facts like he was reading them off of the team website. Shoyou looked at him with stars in his eyes, equally as impressed by him.

Kei kicked him under the table. 

“You look familiar too,” the girl said, looking carefully at Kei.

Shoyou brightened some more, always willing to talk about Kei’s accomplishments, “He was on the Sendai Frogs for a few years if you remember that!” 

The girl shook her head, “No, it’s not about volleyball,” she squinted at him, “Oh! You did that lecture series at the Sendai Museum!”

For the first time Kei was actually interested in the conversation, “I did,” he said, a bit startled, “You went to it?”

“Went to it?” she laughed, “I talked about it for days after, right?” She turned to her boyfriend for confirmation.

He nodded, “I had no idea what she was talking about.”

Shoyou rested his chin in his hand and looked lovingly over at Kei, “I never understand either. But I like listening to him talk.”


	46. "It's about to rain, get inside"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike basically everything else in this fic this is a bit angsty.
> 
> I'm working on/thinking about an injury AU fic so this is part of that universe, so there are vague mentions of a past injury.

Their apartment was small, too small for both of them despite the fact it had two bedrooms. Kenma kept offering to get him a bigger place but he turned him down again and again; he didn’t want his money. He knew that it was only pity money and he couldn’t stand to have his friend treat him like he was broken.

The apartment was fine for what they used it for. Between school and volleyball Kei was rarely home, and when he did get home he usually showered and slept before starting all over again. Nowadays it felt like the only time he saw Kei was on the nights he snuck out of his own bed and let himself into Kei’s.

He never minded when Shoyou joined him, he expected it to the point that he worried if Shoyou went a few nights without sleeping in his bed. Even on nights when Kei was away Shoyou tended to start the night in his own room and end it in the room across the hall.

At first Shoyou hated Kei’s insistence to take care of him, but now he was drawn to him like a lifeline. Sometimes Kei hovered and was overwhelming. He understood though, he tended to self destruct, he knew that Kei was just waiting for him to explode again, to find a different way to punish himself. Kei pulled him out of the gutter again and again.

It wasn’t even his responsibility.

He did it because… He did it because…

It didn’t matter.

He liked their apartment, it was small and cramped but when Kei came home at the end of the day he quietly called out “I’m home,” and went looking for Shoyou before he collapsed for the night.

He liked their apartment because Kei’s room felt safe, it felt like a place he could hide from himself and cry and have Kei rub his back and tell him that it wasn’t his fault even though they both knew he was lying. If he had been smarter he could be playing volleyball alongside Kei instead of watching him from the stands.

He liked their apartment because he could safely explode while inside-- anger, grief, disappointment, and no one would look at him with pity.

He liked their apartment because it had a small balcony that overlooked the street and he could watch people walking by and make up stories about their life. When he was up that high he felt like he was flying.

“I’m home,” he heard Kei’s quiet entrance.

Shoyou leaned back and opened the door so Kei would know that he was sitting outside but he didn’t call back or head inside.

It took a few minutes but eventually Kei joined him on the balcony, leaning against the doorway, “Hey,” he said softly.

If he cared more he’d try to think about why Kei was treating him so gently lately, he didn’t think he was acting any differently or setting off any alarm bells, but Kei would know better. Shoyou tilted his head back in his chair and looked at him upside down, “How was class.”

“Long,” he sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair, “How long have you been out here?”

He didn’t know but by the chilled state of his skin, a few hours at least. He shrugged, “A while.”

“It’s about to rain,” Kei watched Shoyou rub at his injured leg, it sometimes ached when it was going to rain, “get inside.”

Shoyou made a face at him but stood up, “Fine.”

* * *

Later he let himself into Kei’s room but when Kei slung an arm around his middle he tugged on his sleeve until he rolled completely on top of him and Shoyou could kiss him. This was part of their routine too, part of their weird give and take with each other. When one of them, mostly him, needed physical reassurance or grounding or to feel they sought it from the other.

Kei kissed him like he loved him, and in those moments it was easy to pretend that he did. Because despite the fact that they lived together and took care of each other and slept together, and despite the fact that Shoyou (was fairly certain that he) loved him, they weren’t dating.

* * *

Shoyou liked their apartment, it was the only place he could pretend that everything was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also you may have noticed that this fic now says it's going to be 50 chapters, once I hit that I'm going to start a new one so it doesn't become too unwieldy :)


	47. "I'm sorry"

When Kei woke up and Shoyou was still in bed with him, alarm bells went off in the back of his mind. While it was his day off, Shoyou wasn’t a ‘lay around in bed and wait for his boyfriend to wake up’ type of person. If he was hovering nearby there must be a reason, and if he didn’t excitedly wake him up to tell him about it, then it definitely wasn’t anything good. 

Kei blearily opened his eyes and looked up at his orange blob of a boyfriend, “Why‘re you here?” 

Shoyou smiled warmly at him, “Good morning to you too. I’ve been up for hours already.” 

“Don’t care,” Kei rolled over so his back was to Shoyou and buried his face into his pillow, “Did you watch me for hours?”

“Nah,” he spooned up behind him, wrapped his arm around Kei’s middle, pulling him closer and soaking in his sleep warmth, “I went for a run, ate breakfast, took a shower, hung up the wash, I’ve been back here for like thirty minutes.”

“I get it,” Kei groaned, “You’re a product member of this household and I’m not.” 

Shoyou chuckled, “Yeah, true. I make more money too,” he joked.

Kei kicked him, “You don’t even know how to pay the bills.”

“Hey!” he protested, “I could figure it out. My mom would show me. Or Hitoka.” 

Kei rolled over in his embrace so he could look at him, they were so close it didn’t matter that he wasn’t wearing his glasses, “What are you doing here?” he asked again.

Shoyou smiled nervously, “Don’t hate me, but Akiteru is coming over later.”

“No,” Kei said automatically.

Shoyou rolled on top of him and Kei tried to wiggle out from underneath him but his boyfriend was deceptively heavy when he made himself dead weight, “He asked if he could come by weeks ago and I said yes and--”

“You knew about this weeks ago?” 

“And I told him he could come by for lunch so he’s going to be here soon.” 

Kei glared at him, “I hate you.” 

“I’m sorry,” he grinned, obviously not sorry in the slightest, “Get dressed.” 

“I hate you,” he groaned again.

Shoyou just laughed, “Love you too.”


End file.
